The Dangerous Duo and the Disappearing Door
by The Dangerous Duo
Summary: Mary Evans and Cassi Black begin their first year at Hogwarts. Will Mary acknowledge Harry as her twin brother? Will Cassi learn what 'that tubey thingie' is? Will Hogwarts survive the combined forces of the Weasley twins and the Dangerous Duo?
1. Chapter 1: The Girl Who Lived

**Disclaimer: We own NOTHING!!! NOTHING, you hear!! Just our made up characters...and we think they just might own us at this point. But that's not the point. The point is, we're just a couple of poor college students; we own NOTHING-- especially anything worth sueing over. This is all just for fun-- JKR owns all things Harry Potter, not little ol' us. :)  
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**Summary:** Harry and his twin sister Mary are seperated after their parent's deaths and Mary is sent to America with her uncle and aunt, along with Sirius's daughter Cassi, who is given to a muggle foster family. What will happen when Mary and Cassi finally meet again when they finally start at Hogwarts? Chaos, panic, and disorder-- our work here has just begun. Moi-ha-ha-ha!!  
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Setting:** Mary and Harry are born in 1988, they start school in 1999, and they graduate in 2006. The Marauders and Lily were born in 1965-66, started school in 1977, and graduated in 1984.  
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Spoilers:** All HP books. Will be mostly cannon all the way through, but will obviously have _some_ differences. (Our insanity couldn't help but change a few things!)  
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Notes:** Contains OCs. If you don't like, don't read. Also, this chapter contains some direct quotes from Chapter One of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--sorry, tried to get rid of it, but it couldn't be helped. WE DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS!!  
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Warning: **There will be swearing in later chapters, so if this offends you in any, way, shape, or form, you have been well warned! And again, if you don't like, dn't read!

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~ Please Read & Review!! NO FLAMES PLEASE!! ~**

* * *

**The Girl Who Lived**

Alex and his family were perfectly normal—for the most part, that is. Taylor and Jordan were a little more troublesome and rambunctious than your average twins, but Alex credited this to the fact that his baby sister Lily was a real-life, full-fledged, honest-to-God witch. Yes, Lily and James Potter were a witch and wizard and Alex was very proud of this fact, though his other younger sister, Petunia, was not. Alex and Ana frequently visited Alex's youngest sister and her family; the Evans, like the Potters, were young and spirited and they did not judge unfairly as the Dursley's did. Vernon and Petunia Dursley refused to admit that they were related to people like the Potters at all; they had missed Lily and James's wedding because of this. Alex and Ana, however, had been there; in fact, the Evans and their baby daughters had actually been _in_ the Potters' wedding.

XXXXXXXX

On that dull, grey Wednesday that began the month of November, Alexander and his family were all packed and ready to move. It was the Evans' last day on Privet Drive and in England, so Alex had been given the day off in order to take care of a few last minute things. He and his wife Ana had taken their twin daughters Taylor and Jordan to visit Alex's youngest sister Lily and her husband James just two days earlier to say goodbye. Lily and James had twins of their own—Mary and Harry—who were two years younger than Jordan and Taylor.

That evening Alex and Ana were having dinner with Alex's other younger sister, Petunia. She and her husband Vernon Dursley had a son, Dudley, who was the same age as Mary and Harry. The Dursleys lived just a few houses down from the Evans on Privet Drive.

As Alex stood in front of his house that afternoon, he thought about what he would be leaving behind as he and his family set off for their new life in the United States. The sign in front of Number One Privet Drive now read "Sold" and a new family would be moving into the house in just a few short days. On a sudden whim, Alex looked down the street towards his sister's house. Everything looked as it always did on the Stepford-like street—except for the strange tabby cat sitting in front of Petunia's house, simply staring at the house's occupants.

As the sapphire-eyed brunette man headed back inside the house, Alex noticed a tawny owl swooping past. He was all too familiar with wizarding customs and culture, so he just figured that the owl was simply delivering something to someone and didn't think anything more of it. Alex simply continued on inside and helped his blonde-haired, blue-eyed wife out with their daughters while they tried to finish up some last minute packing.

After they finished, Ana said to Alex, "Dear, why don't you take the girls to the park for a while. They could do with some fresh air and they're going to be cooped up all day tomorrow."

"Of course, darling." Alex got his little blue-eyed daughters ready and they headed out the door. "We'll be back by five, Ana," he called out to his wife. "Oh, and don't forget, we're having dinner with Petunia and Vernon tonight at six."

"I know dear," replied Ana, giving her husband a kiss. "Have fun! Be good for Daddy," she said to her troublesome twin daughters before giving them each a kiss on their strawberry-blonde heads.

Alex and his three-year-old twin daughters spent a couple of hours at the local park before heading into town. As they were walking through the town, Alex noticed an abnormally large number of people in brightly colored cloaks, similar to the ones Lily, James, and their witch and wizard friends sometimes wore. He also noticed an unusually large number of owls swooping through the sky.

Alex didn't really start to get worried until he happed to overhear some of the cloaked people talking. "The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard—" said a large black man in an emerald green cloak.

"—yes, their daughter Mary and their son Harry—" said an old woman in a yellow and black cloak.

Alex stopped dead. He would bet his life and the lives of his precious daughters that these people were talking about Lily and James and their twins. Fearful that something horrible had happened to his precious baby sister, Alex started to rush the twins home.

As he was rushing with his blue-eyed, strawberry-blonde haired girls, he accidentally bumped into a tiny, old man dressed in a violet cloak. "Sorry, sir," said Alex politely.

"It's no problem at all, my good man. Nothing could upset me today, for You-Know-Who has finally been defeated! Rejoice! Even muggle such as yourself should celebrate on this happiest of days!" Finished babbling, the old man unexpectedly hugged Alex and simply walked off.

"Daddy," asked Jordan, "why did that old man say the name of that scary man?"

"The one Uncle James and Aunt Lily don't like?" added Taylor.

"I don't know, sweethearts," replied Alex worriedly. "That's why we need to get home as quickly as we possibly can." The girls looked crestfallen, making Alex feel bad about cutting their afternoon short. "When we get home we can invite Kitty and Jeff over to play, how does that sound, munchkins?" he said to appease them.

"Thanks, Daddy!" cried the twins happily; their evil scheme of guilt the dad had worked perfectly yet again.

XXXXXXXX

Alex and the twins got back earlier than he had planned. As he walked through the front door, he glanced over at the Dursleys' and saw that the tabby can from earlier was still sitting out by their house. Alex didn't have time to think about the cat, though; he was too preoccupied with his worry about his baby sister.

"Ana! Ana! I think something's happened!" Alex called out as he entered the house, shutting the door behind him.

Ana came running down the stairs. "What's the matter, Alex?" she asked concernedly.

Alex, not wanting the girls to hear this particular conversation, shooed them into the living room and, being reminded of his promise by two very convincing puppy-dog faces, called up Susan Rymes from down at Number Fourteen. A few minutes later Kitty and Jeff arrived and the four toddlers went to play in the backyard.

"Alright, the girls are gone. Now, what's the matter, Alex?" asked Ana.

Alex took a deep breath and explained, "At first I thought it was nothing, with the owls and the cat, but then I started to see all these people in wizard robes. That's when I started to wonder—there were so many more out and about than there usually are—and then I heard it."

"Heard what?"

"Some of them were talking about the Potters, about Mary and Harry. I think something's happened."

"Are you sure? But what could it be?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it has to do with You-Know-Who. There was a wizard who was going up to people and telling them to rejoice because You-Know-Who is gone…I'm worried about Lily and James and their twins, An, I really am. I think something bad's happened to them."

"Well, I'm sure someone will contact us if something _really_ bad happened, so until we know otherwise you just need to calm down and pray that nothing _has_ happened to them, Alex."

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Lily," said Alex, still shaken. "She's my baby sister, An!"

"I know, baby, I know," soothed Ana. Once Alex had calmed down a bit she suggested, "Well, to take your mind off of all this, why don't you go get ready for dinner at your _other_ sister's?"

"Okay, I guess I'll do that…" said Alex almost mechanically.

"Good. You do that and I'll take care of the girls. They can still play a bit longer; we have time before we have to leave," said Ana, taking charge of the situation.

"Alright. I'm going upstairs to get ready now," said Alex dully.

"Good, dear. And Alex…"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry so much. I'm sure everything will be just fine, you'll see."

"I hope so," said Alex heading up the stairs. "I really hope so."

XXXXXXXX

Dinner that evening was as awkward as it ever was with the Dursleys. Ever since the Evans had started spending more and more time with the Potters, the Dursleys had been more cold and distant to them. Fortunately for all parties involved, dinner didn't take too long. Once everyone was finished eating, they all said their goodbyes and Alex and Ana each grabbed one of their sleeping toddlers and headed home.

Once they got back home, Ana and Alex put their small daughters to bed on the air mattress that they were using for their last night in England; their flight to New York City left early the next morning. After the girls were safely tucked in bed, Ana and Alex lay down on their own air mattress. Ana fell asleep almost instantly. Alex, however, was having trouble sleeping, his worry about Lily and her family stuck firmly at the forefront of his mind. He eventually managed to drift off to sleep, his worry about Lily and James and their twins growing with every passing second.

* * *

Alex may have drifted off to a worried sleep, but the cat that had spent the day watching the Dursleys had no intention of sleeping anytime soon. The cat simply sat there, ignoring the normal night noises and animals.

Suddenly and silently an old man appeared on the corner that the cat had been watching with a loud CRACK. The man was tall and thin with silver hair and a beard, both falling past his waist. He wore long turquoise robes covered by an equally long purple cloak and high-heeled, buckled boots. He had a long, crooked nose and his bright blue eyes twinkled merrily behind half-mood spectacles. To those in the know, this man was Professor Albus Percival Wulfric _Brian_ Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Albus, seemingly unaware that the only people on this street that would tolerate his presence were set to move halfway across the world come morning, dug through his violently purple cloak, looking for something. Feeling that he was being watched, the old man looked up to see the strange tabby cat watching him. Chuckling to himself as if it were some great joke, only he was in on, Albus muttered to himself, "I should have known."

Albus finally found what he was looking for in his cloak and pulled out what appeared to be a silver lighter. Without a word he flicked it open and clicked it, causing the nearest street lamp to go out with a small pop. He repeated the process twelve times until the street was completely dark, but for the twin pinpricks of light that were the cats eyes watching him. Now no one—not even nosy Petunia Dursley—would be able to see what was going on out on the street had they so wanted to try. Satisfied with his work, Dumbledore returned the Put-Outer to his cloak pocket and made his way down to Number Four Privet Drive, where he sat down on the wall beside the cat.

After sitting in silence for a moment, Dumbledore spoke to the cat, never once glancing at it. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

He turned to smile at the tabby cat, but instead found himself smiling at a rather severe-looking, distinctly ruffled woman wearing a black robe and an emerald cloak. She wore her black hair up in a tight bun and her square glasses were exactly the same as the markings as the markings on the cat. "How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"My dear Professor," chuckled Albus, "I have never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You'd be stiff if you were sitting on a brick wall all day," she snapped at him.

"All day?" said Albus, surprised. "When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."

McGonagall sniffed angrily. "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating all night," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but _no_—even _muggles_ have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back to indicate the Dursley's living room. "I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they're not _completely_ stupid. They were bound to notice _something_. Shooting stars down in Kent—I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"I know that," said McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to loose our heads. People are being downright _careless_, Albus! Out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in muggle clothes, swapping rumors…" McGonagall threw a sharp glance at Dumbledore, hoping he would tell her something, but he remained silent. "A fine thing it would be, if, on the _very day_ You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really _has_ gone, Albus?"

"It certainly seems so, Minerva," said Dumbledore cryptically. "We have much to be thankful for." He dug through his cloak again and pulled out a small red-velvet bag, took a small yellow candy out and popped it into his mouth. "Would you care for a lemon drop?" he offered her.

"A _what_?"

"A lemon drop," said Albus happily. "They're a kind of muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."

"No thank you, Albus," said McGonagall coldly, believing that this was _not_ the time for sweets. "As I was saying, even if You-Know-Who _has_ gone—"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense—for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: _Voldemort_." McGonagall flinched at the name, but Albus was too busy with his candy to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."

"I know _you_ haven't," said McGonagall, half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different, Albus. _Everyone_ knows that you're the only one You-Know-Who—oh, all right, _Voldemort_, was ever frightened of."

"You flatter me, Minerva," said Albus calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you're too—well, _noble_ to use them."

"It's lucky its dark, Minerva. I haven't blushed so much since Poppy Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

McGonagall looked at Albus sharply, determined to get the story out of him, and said, "The owls are _nothing_ next to the _rumors_ that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying, Albus? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" McGonagall had finally reached the point that had brought her to spend the day as a cat on this muggle street. She absolutely refused to believe what "everyone" was saying until Dumbledore confirmed it. Dumbledore, however, was still busy with his candy and ignored his Transfiguration professor. "What they're _saying_," McGonagall pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are-are-that they're _dead_." Albus bowed his head in affirmation and McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James…I can't believe it…I didn't _want_ to believe it…Oh, Albus…"

Albus reached over and patted McGonagall on the shoulder comfortingly. "I know, Minerva…I know…" he said heavily.

McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all, Albus. They're saying that he tried to kill the Potter twins, but he _couldn't_. He couldn't kill those little children. No one knows why, or _how_, but they're saying that he couldn't kill Mary and Harry Potter. Voldemort's power somehow broke—and that he's gone." Albus nodded glumly at this. "It's—it's _true_?" faltered McGonagall. "After all he's done…all the people he's killed…he couldn't kill a little girl and a little boy? It's just _astounding_…of all the things to stop him…but how in Merlin's name did Mary and Harry survive?"

"We can only guess," said Albus. "We may never know."

McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her chestnut-brown eyes under her spectacles as Dumbledore gave a great sniff and pulled out a strange golden watch that had twelve hands, no numbers, and little planets moving around the edges. After studying it for a second, Albus placed the watch back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Yes," admitted McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me _why_ you're _here_, of all places."

"I've come to bring Mary to Lily's brother and Harry to her sister. They're the only family they have left now and it's safer to split them up, for now."

"You don't mean—you _can't_ mean the people who live _here_?" cried McGonagall, jumping up and pointing at Number Four. "Albus—you _can't_. I've been watching them all day and you couldn't find two people who are _less_ like us. And they've got this son—I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. You'd send Mary or Harry Potter to live here?!"

"Harry," said Albus matter-of-factly. "Mary will go live with Lily's brother Alex and his family down there at Number One," he finished, motioning at the Evans' house.

"Oh, well, that's slightly better. Lily is—_was_—always raving about her elder brother. He came home _quite_ shaken by something this afternoon—I assume he heard the rumors about his sister," said McGonagall. "But sending Harry to live with _these_ people? Of all people!"

"It's the best place for him," said Albus firmly.

"Why not just send them _both_ with Alexander?" asked McGonagall hopefully.

"It cannot be done," Albus replied firmly. "It is not fair to Alexander and his wife to saddle them with a pair of _highly_ magical twins, especially since they already have slightly magical twins of their own and are, in fact, not magical themselves. Besides," Albus continued, "I believe that Mary Potter is destined to have power beyond what even _I_ can imagine. She _is_ the first girl born to the Potter family in many, many generations and will therefore receive the Heart on her eighth birthday."

McGonagall gasped. "So the legend is true then; it's not just a fairy tale told to eager children—she _was_ real, the Heart _was_ forged. And the rumors of the powers—are those true too?" Albus simply nodded. "Then I can see why it is crucial to split them up since they are not to be raised in _our_ world."

"Precisely," said Albus. "It is not fair to inflict more than one child of James Potter on any one family, _especially_ if said family is non-magical. Their aunts and uncles will be able to explain everything to the twins when they are older—I've written each family a letter saying that, among other things."

"A letter?" repeated McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really Albus, you think you can explain all this in a letter? Alexander may understand Mary in time, but these people will _never_ understand Harry! The twins will be famous—_legends_—I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Potter Day in the future—there will be books written about them—every child in our world will know their names!"

"Exactly," said Albus, looking very serious. "It would be enough to turn _any_ child's head, let alone a child of James Potter. Famous before they can walk and talk! Famous for something they won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off they'll be growing up _away_ from all that until they're ready to take it?"

McGonagall opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind, swallowed, and said, "Yes—yes, you're right, of course. But how are the twins getting here, Albus?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though he might be keeping them in his pocket or something.

"Hagrid's bringing them."

"You think it—_wise_—to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life."

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not _careless_, Albus. He does tend to—what was _that_?!"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence of the night. It grew louder and louder, but there were no headlights to be spotted coming up or down the street. The sound swelled to a roar and the two old friends looked up at the sky to see a huge motorbike fall out of the air and land on the road in front of them.

Compared to the man riding it, the bike was positively _tiny_. He looked simply too big to be allowed; he was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at _least_ five times as wide. He looked positively _wild_—his black hair and beard was long and tangled and succeeded in hiding most of his face. His hands could be compared to trash can lids and his feet to baby dolphins. In his huge, muscular arms he held two small (positively _miniscule_ compared to him) bundles of blankets and across his chest was a third bundled, snuggled safely in a sling carrier.

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, relieved. "At last. And _where_ did you get that motorbike?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant man, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it ter me. I've got th' twins, sir, an' little Cassi as well."

"No problems, were there?"

"No, sir—house was almost destroyed, but I got th' twins out all righ' before th' muggles started swarmin' aroun'. Harry fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol, but I think th' girls are still awake."

Albus and McGonagall both bent forward over the two small bundles. Inside the first blanket (gold colored), just visible, was a baby boy, with a tuft of jet-black hair and a lightning bolt shaped cut on his forehead, fast asleep. In the sling, sucking her tiny thumb as tears streamed silently from her _stormy_ _grey_ eyes, her other hand holding tight to one of her tight ebony-black curls. In the second blanket (red colored), seeming to take everything in with wide _hazel_ eyes, was baby girl with a mop of vibrant red hair and a lightning-bolt shaped cut, identical to the boy's, on her forehead.

"Is that where—?" whispered McGonagall.

"Yes," said Dumbledore sadly. "The twins will have those scars forever."

"Couldn't you do something about them, Albus?"

"For Mary, yes, I can hide it; I know how vain young girls can be in this day and age." Albus waved his hand across Mary's forehead and the scar disappeared from sight. Mary simply watched him calmly with her large hazel eyes. "She _will_ learn that spell when the time is right," Dumbledore explained. "As for Harry, even if I could—that spell only works for females—I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well—give Harry here, Hagrid—we'd better get this over with."

At the sound of her uncle's voice, Cassi held out her chubby little arms for him to pick her up. "Uppy, Unca Bus!" she cried out.

"Not right now, my dear. Uncle Albus is busy at the moment." Albus took Harry in his arms, leaving Hagrid still holding Mary and Cassi, and turned toward the Dursley's house.

"Could I—could I say good-bye ter him, sir?" asked Hagrid. Upon receiving an affirmative from the aged wizard, Hagrid bent his shaggy head over the small boy and gave him a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, he let out a howl like a wounded dog (Fang had been giving him lessons).

"Shhh!" hissed McGonagall, "you'll wake the muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a ginormus spotted hanky and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can' stand it—Lily an James dead—an' poor lil' Mary an' Harry off ter live with muggles—"

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," McGonagall whispered as she patted the giant man carefully on his massive arm.

Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door of Number Four, closely watched by Mary and Cassi—_quite_ scary, since neither girl was even two yet. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep and took a letter out of his cloak, placing it inside the blanket with the small boy before returning to the other four. For a full minute the five magical beings stood and stared at the small bundle on the porch. Hagrid was sobbing silently, McGonagall was fighting back her own tears, Mary was staring intently at her twin, Cassi waved at Harry, and the ever-present twinkle seemed to have disappeared from Albus's eyes.

"Well," said Albus finally, "it's time to send Mary off now—Cassi as well. Follow me, please." He led the small group down one house and across the street. "Number One, Mary's new home," he said softly.

"Albus," said McGonagall, "the sign in front of the house says 'Sold.'"

"So it does!" said Dumbledore brightly. "All the better. Hmm…I _do_ vaguely recall Lily being rather upset several months ago when she learned that her brother and his family were moving to…America, I believe it was."

"_America_?!" cried McGonagall. "Surely you can't be serious, Albus."

"Yes, I'm quite serious, Minerva," he said firmly. "All the better to hide her. Cassi is going there as well—it was planned, just in case anything happened to her guardian and since she is here now, I will have Alexander and Ana take her over with them. The girls will be safe there; no one will know who they are—or _what_ they are, for that matter. Besides, perhaps they will get lucky and run into each other sometime before they begin at Hogwarts…but we really should get on with this. Hagrid, if you please," said Albus, holding out his arms to take Mary. Hagrid rather reluctantly handed the tiny redhead to Dumbledore.

The second Albus had Mary in his arms, she began her baby talk. "Unca Bus, Unca Harid an Unca Pafoo no take Mimi a Daddy. Mimi wanna go a Daddy NOW!"

"Daddy had to go away, Mary," said Dumbledore gently.

"NO! Daddy tell Mimi a go seepy-by, but Mimi no _wanna_ go seepy-by, so Mimi no go seepy-by. Where bees Daddy? Daddy take Mimi a get tookies!"

"Daddy had to go bye-bye, Mary," Dumbledore attempted to explain to the one-year-old witch.

"Mimi go a Daddy NOW!!!" Mary yelled, balling her fists demandingly. She started to cry; she didn't really understand what had happened the night before—she _was_, after all, only one. "MIMI GO A DADDY _NOW_!!!!!"

"I'm so sorry, Mary. It's time for you to go see Uncle Alex and go on a long trip."

"MIMI NO WANNA GO A UNCA LEX! MIMI WANNA GO A DADDY _NOW_!!!!" There was simply no comforting the distraught child, so Albus simply gave up trying to explain things to her; she wouldn't have truly understood anyway.

"Could I—could I say good-bye ter her too, sir?" asked Hagrid. Receiving an affirmative, Hagrid bent over the tiny, crying girl and she got her own whiskery, scratchy kiss, causing the emotional girl to laugh rather than cry.

"Poor girl," said McGonagall. "At least she doesn't truly understand what has happened to her family."

Hagrid was sobbing again, so McGonagall attempted to comfort him while Albus walked up the stone path to the front door. He placed Mary on the doorstep and she smiled and cooed at him, causing him to smile back as he placed a letter in her blanket. As he walked away, however, Mary began to call out for "Unca Bus," "Unca Pafoo," Unca Harid," "Aunnie Minnie," "Mumma," and "Daddy," before she gave up and began crying again. Once again they watched the small bundle for a full minute as she stared back at them with tear filled eyes, having much the same reactions as they had with Harry.

"Now its dear Cassiopeia's turn," said Dumbledore as he held out his arms for his great-niece.

Now that she _finally_ had what she wanted, Cass made a pouty face at her uncle. "Tass wan Pafoo!" she demanded. "Where Pafoo? Pafoo take Tass a see Wi! Where Pafoo go?"

"Padfoot isn't here, Cassiopeia. It's time now for you to go on a long trip, my dear."

"_NO_! TASS WANNA GO A PAFOO!" she yelled as she started to cry again. "UNCA BUS TAKE TASS A PAFOO _NOW_!!!!" she yelled as she cried.

Dumbledore tried his best to comfort his niece as he dug in his pockets for a small vial. He somehow got the small girl to take a few drops of the potion in the vial. McGonagall gave him an odd look as he put the vial away. "It's a special potion Luna used to use to put her to sleep," he explained sadly. "I just added something extra to keep her powers at bay until she turns eleven. I'd give some to Mary too, but I somehow doubt it would work. Anyway, we should get on with this before I lose my nerve."

Albus conjured some blankets out of thin air and wrapped Cassi up snuggly in them. She reached out sleepily and tugged on his long, white beard—a little game she always played with him. He smiled at her as he set the black-haired baby down next to Mary. He then kissed her softly on her forehead—as did Hagrid—and tucked a letter in her blankets as well. Once more, for a full minute the three adults stood and stared at Cassi, who was already fast asleep, and Mary, who was still wide awake, and their reactions were much the same as before.

"Well," said Albus finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join in the celebrations."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, his voice muffled with tears, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night Professor McGonagall—Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his teary eyes on his sleeve, he swung himself on to the motorbike, kicked the engine on, and took off into the dusky night with a roar.

"I shall see you soon, Minerva," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

Albus turned and walked back up the street. When he had reached the corner he took out the silver Put-Outer and with a single click the light returned to the street lamps, revealing a single tabby cat slinking around the corner of the street up by the Evans home. From his chosen spot, he could only just make out the three bundles at Number One and Number Four.

"Good luck, Mary. Good luck, Harry. Good luck, my dear Cassiopeia," Albus murmured. He then turned on the spot and with a loud CRACK he was gone.

A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of the almost unnaturally _normal_ street that was Privet Drive. No one would ever expect that something so strange had ever taken place on such a street. Over on the doorstep of Number One, Mary Potter rolled over in her red blankets and finally drifted off into an uneasy and troubled sleep, for though she was only a year old she knew that something wasn't quite right in her universe anymore. Unconsciously, one small hand curled around the letter beside her. She slept on, unaware that she was anymore special than the next person, unaware that she was famous, unaware that she would be leaving the country of her birth in just a few short hours, unaware that she would spend the next few weeks moving from place to place as the Evan's searched for the perfect house…She was completely unaware that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Mary and Harry Potter—the twins who lived!"

* * *

Alex woke up at two A.M. the next morning. He stretched, got dressed, and woke up his family before heading outside to get their last milk delivery. When he opened the front door and looked down, he saw Mary and Cassi laying there. He picked Mary up first—she was still sound asleep—and found a letter. When he read the letter, his worst fears were confirmed. He then picked up Cassi, whom he instantly recognized as Lily's best friend's daughter, and found a letter in her bundle as well. He took the girls inside, tears streaming down his face, and told Ana what had happened. Unfortunately, the Evans' couldn't stick around for long, even to grieve; they had to drive to London to catch a six A.M. flight to New York City; they were then renting a car and driving up to Michigan.

Once they were on the plane, Alex finally had time to think. He sat there holding Mary, who was still sound asleep. She looked just like Lily, except for her eyes; she had James' eyes. Sitting there on the plane, Alex vowed to love and care for Mary as he did his own daughters. Next to them sat Ana, holding their twin daughters _and_ Cassi. Both Alex and his wife felt sorry for the little girl; she had suffered more loss in her short life than most people did in their entire lifetime, and now she was to be taken to a family that no one—besides Dumbledore and Debbie, who was Alex's best friend—had ever met. He half thought of keeping her—she _was_ like a second daughter to Lily and James—but then he thought of the letter. Her uncle clearly said that she was to be hidden with the muggle family that he had chosen. Alex was to deliver her to them as soon as they were settled in their own home.

On their way to Michigan—their final destination—Alex did as Dumbledore's letter had instructed him too: they stopped in North Carolina and gave Cassi to the family who was to raise her—the Taylors. From there the Evans continued on their way. Weeks later, they were all settled in their new house in Bellaire, Michigan, U.S.A. Alex and Ana considered adopting Mary as their own daughter, but they realized that that would simply complicate things too much in the future. They did, however, unofficially change her last name to Evans in order to better protect her—Dumbledore himself had suggested this in his letter to Alex. Many years would pass before Mary would find out who she really was. It would be many years before Mary learned that she was the girl who lived, the (better, according to some—well, mostly just Mary and her admirers) half of the twins-who-lived.

* * *

**R&R No flames please!! :) Remember: reviews make the plot penguins and dragons very happy!!! Otherwise, they may attack...we're pretty sure they have a secret base somewhere...**


	2. Chapter 2: Camp Sunshine

**A/N:** As Willow says in "Once More with Feeling," this chapter's mostly filler. Okay, so the line is actually "this _line_'s mostly filler," but whatever. And that's from Buffy, just fyi-- we DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, own that either.

**Warning:** This chapter contains some minor swearing-- mostly by a certain Tonks-like character. If this offends you, well, sorry about that, that wasn't our intent. That's just the way the cookie crumbles...

* * *

**Camp Sunshine  
**

"Camp Sunshine: What more do you want?" The sign for the camp could be seen from several miles down the bumpy dirt road that lead up to it. The camp was located in a remote spot in Illinois. In order to get there, you had to go past dozens upon dozens of cornfields, some cow pastures, and a farm or two—not to mention more cornfields…

Camp Sunshine was a summer camp for boys and girls from the ages of nine to twelve. It was just your normal everyday summer camp—nothing special. They had horseback riding, swimming, canoeing, hiking, arts and crafts, campfires, games, and other camp activities; it was rated one of the best camps in the Midwest.

XXXXXXXX

A navy blue van pulled into the camp parking lot. Mary Evans, a spunky redheaded girl of almost ten, climbed out. She had hazel eyes and wore her long, straight mane of hair in a ponytail. She was wearing blue jeans and a red t-shirt that read "Hothead by Nature, Flirt by Trade." A tall brunette man and two identical strawberry-blonde haired girls followed her; the twins also had their hair in ponytails. These were Mary's uncle/father, Alex, and her older identical twin cousin-sisters, Taylor and Jordan. The twins both had blue eyes and were wearing blue jeans and identical white t-shirts that read "Camp Sunshine Veteran."

"Welcome to Camp Sunshine, Red! You're going to love it here! We'll have so much fun this summer!" the twins said in unison, grabbing their cousin-sister's hands and running off toward the camp office.

"I'll catch up with you in a minute, girls!" Alex called after his daughters and his niece.

XXXXXXXX

A small white car pulled into the parking lot seconds after the blue van had. Jacqueline Taylor, an active tomboy with curly black hair, climbed out. She had gray eyes and wore her long hair a ponytail. She wore blue jeans and a jade green t-shirt that said "Don't Mess with Me: I Have an Older Brother." She was followed by a sandy-haired boy her age and a much older brunette guy; these were her best friend Joey Vaughn and his older brother Izzy.

"Ah, Camp Sunshine. What memories! I had such a good time here when I was younger," said Izzy with a great big smile. "Come on, you two, grab your stuff and we'll go check into the camp office."

"Wait, when did you go here? Haven't you lived in North Carolina your whole life too?" Jackie said not missing a chance to give Izzy a hard time.

"Yeah, you haven't been old enough in ages!" Joey added, exaggerating a bit.

"One of my friends moved around here so we went together one year."

"Ooooooh!" Jackie and Joey said together.

"It was a guy—Chuck, was his name."

"Okay. I'm not _even_ going to go there," said Jackie.

"Same here," added Joey.

XXXXXXXX

As Izzy, Joey, and Jackie were walking toward the office, they were almost bowled over by a streak of blonde and red. "Sorry!" called two blonde girls as they continued on their way.

"No problem," muttered Jackie. "You only just almost _knocked us down_!"

The boys didn't hear her; they were too busy staring at the three girls. "Man, those girls are HOT!" said Izzy.

"Dude, the redhead looks like she's _my_ age!" said Jackie.

"Which means she's my age too!" said Joey a little too happily.

"I should not have said that," muttered Jackie, too late; Joey was already running off to the office in hopes of meeting the redheaded girl. Jackie swore colorfully under her breath, which made Izzy crack a grin.

XXXXXXXX

Taylor and Jordan were signing themselves and Mary in when one of the guys they had almost run over came in. He looked around for a minute, spotted Mary, and headed over. _He's kind of cute_, thought Mary, staring unashamedly at the boy. And so he was. He had sandy blonde hair that came down to his shoulders and his eyes were a grayish blue with a silver gleam to them. For his age (which Mary assumed was the about same as her own), he was fairly tall; he was still a little shorter than Mary, but Mary was usually taller than most guys her age.

The boy came over. "Hi. I'm Joey," he said, giving the redhead a lopsided smile.

"Mary," Mary replied, grinning back at him.

"Um, so…you're going to be here at camp this summer?"

"Yeah. Me and my sisters, er, cousins. My cousin-sisters. It's complicated," she replied, motioning to Taylor and Jordan.

"Hey, Red!" said the twins. "It's time to go to our cabin!'

"Kay!" Mary turned to Joey. "Well, it was nice meeting you Joey. See you around!" With that, Mary turned and followed Taylor and Jordan out the back door of the camp office.

XXXXXXXX

A minute later Jackie and Izzy came in.

"So?" asked Jackie, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow at her best friend (Joey).

"I introduced myself, and then she had to go," he replied simply, with a shrug of his shoulders. Suddenly remembering what else Mary had said, he perked up. "But she said she hopes that we run into each other while we're here!" Jackie shook her head in exasperation. She'd never get her "brothers."

Izzy, teenage boy that he was, asked, "Joey, did you find out who those other girls were? They had to be at _least_ fifteen."

"And you want to meet them, possibly even date one of them," said Jackie, raising her eyebrow. Izzy looked around the room guiltily. "That's what I thought."

XXXXXXXX

"So," said Taylor after they had left the office, "what was that all about?"

"Yeah," added Jordan, "that guy was _really_ cute."

"It's no big," replied Mary, shrugging her shoulders. "He just wanted to meet me."

"Uhuh."

"Rrrrrright."

"Honestly!"

"You can honestly say that…"

"…if he were to ask you out you'd say no?"

"Well, no, but we just met."

"So?"

"That's never stopped you before."

"No, but…"

"Didn't you break up with that other guy you were dating?"

"What was his name?"

"Stanton. Stanton Oliver. He's going to be a freshman. But that's beside the point…"

"Really?"

"You and Stanton started going out when you first met at Renaissance camp."

"Yeah, but _he_ asked _me_ out. And why the bloody hell did I go to Renaissance camp anyway?"

"Mum thought you'd like it."

"And she didn't really give you a choice."

"Oh. Right. Tell you what, if Joey asks me out, I'll say yes. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Me too."

"Good. Now…are we there yet?" The twins burst into laughter at that.

XXXXXXXX

Jackie and Joey left the camp office together. As they were walking to their cabins, Joey couldn't stop talking about the redheaded girl. _Funny how he's never once mentioned her name_, thought Jackie.

"So…we gonna have fun _together_ this summer?" asked Jackie, feeling a bit ignored by her best friend. Joey was staring off into the distance.

"Wha—? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Yes. Fun. You and me. This summer. At camp. Of course."

"Yeah. You were thinking about the redhead, weren't you?" said Jackie, giving Joey a sly look.

Joey stared at his black haired best friend incredulously. "Can you blame me? I _am_ a guy, after all."

"You can say _that_ again," said Jackie, playfully shoving the sandy-haired boy.

XXXXXXXX

"Here we are: Cabin Eight," said Jordan.

"Also known as Deer Cabin," added Taylor.

"Interesting," said Mary, bored. "Can we go in now?"

"Oh yes, let's," said the twins, linking arms with Mary.

The three girls continued on into the cabin. Inside there were two sets of bunk beds and four trunks—and that was about it. The Evans girls were the first ones there. Taylor and Jordan took the top and bottom bunk of one—Taylor on the top and Jordan on the bottom—and Mary took the top of the other one.

The girls were just about done getting settled in when a fourth girl arrived. She had short, curly, chestnut brown hair and her skin was tanned to a dark brown color. Her eyes were deep chocolate brown and she wore ripped blue jeans and a green t-shirt that read "Habla a la Mano."

"_Hola,_" said the girl with a smile.

"Hey," said the twins, identical perpetually mischievous grins on their faces.

"Wazup," said Mary absentmindedly, barely glancing up from her book (Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques).

"_Me llamo Josefina Garcia Medina,_" the girl (Josefina) said, speaking in Spanish.

"Taylor Evans."

"Jordan Evans."

"We're twins," they said together.

"I see that," said Josefina, smiling at their antics.

"And I'm Mary Evans, their little sister-cousin person," replied the tall redhead, finally looking up from her book.

"Sister-cousin person?" asked Josefina, raising her eyebrow quizzically.

"It's a long story," said all three Evans girls together.

"Well, nice to meet you all anyway," said Josefina, smiling wryly at the strange Evans girls.

"Nice to meet you too," they Evans girls replied.

"You can have the bunk under mine," said Mary before going back to her book.

"_Gracias,_" said Josefina, setting her stuff down on the aforementioned bunk.

XXXXXXXX

Joey and Jackie were two cabins apart: Joey was in Cabin Ten and Jackie was in Cabin Twelve. After promising to meet each other for dinner they went into their separate cabins.

"Why do we have to have separate cabins?" Jackie complained.

"Because, unlike Mom, the rest of the world typically doesn't like it when guys and girls share a cabin, or tent for that matter," Joey said with a laugh. He always called Jackie's mother "Mom"; his mom had died when he was really little.

"Still sucks though. I guess I'll just have to get used to spending _some_ time with other girls...I hope none of them are real girly girls…"

Saying goodbye to Joey, Jackie entered Cabin Twelve. There were two sets of bunk beds and four trunks. Three of the beds were already taken. All that was left was the top bunk on the second set of bunk beds.

"Welcome to Rabbit Cabin," said a short girl, who had her long blonde hair in a ponytail and was sitting on the bottom bunk of the first set of bunk beds. She had fair skin and deep green eyes, and she wore blue jeans and a dark green t-shirt that said "Camp Sunshine Veteran." "My name is Vicki Isaacs."

A black girl with short hair in two braids and dark brown eyes, who was also wearing blue jeans and a _pink_ t-shirt that said "Camp Sunshine Veteran," said, "I'm Tammy Olsen."

The last girl was a tall, thin girl with short, spiky purple hair in a pixie cut, aqua eyes, and pale, pale skin—even more pale than Jackie's, and that was saying something. The girl was wearing purple jeans and a short aqua t-shirt that said "It's Called Freedom of Expression: Get Used to It." She had four piercings in each ear, plus one in her left cartilage; she also had her nose and her bellybutton pierced. "Lalaine Morgan. You can take the bunk above mine," she said, sounding bored and just generally pissed off.

"Jackie Taylor, but everyone calls me Jack. Nice to meet you," said Jackie, climbing up to her bunk.

"Hope you enjoy your stay here," said Tammy and Vicki, sounding far too peppy for Jackie's liking.

XXXXXXXX

Taylor and Jordan began their little "Welcome to Camp Sunshine" speech, switching off between one another. Jordan started them off. "Welcome to Camp Sunshine. My twin, Taylor, and I will be your junior councilors for your summer stay here."

"If you have any problems, you can come to either of us for help and advice," continued Taylor. "We'll do the best we can to help."

Mary snorted. "We're being serious, Red," the twins said together.

"Sorry," said Mary with a roll of her eyes.

"Any questions?" asked the twins.

"Um, dudes," said Mary, "it's just me and Josefina here. By the by, can I call you Jo?"

"Jo. I like that, _sí_. That would be _muy bien_."

"Cool. So…I know I'm almost ten and they're almost twelve; how old are you, Jo?"

"I just turned _once_—eleven."

XXXXXXXX

Vicki and Tammy began their speech, switching off as they spoke. Vicki spoke first. "Welcome to Camp Sunshine. I'm Vicki—"

"And I'm Tammy—"

"We're both twelve and we will be your junior councilors while you are here."

"If you have any questions while you are here, you can come to us."

"Any questions?" they both asked.

"Yeah. Why the hell am I here?" said Lalaine sullenly.

"I assume because you want to be," replied Vicki, eyeing the purple haired girl with obvious dislike.

"Dude, you're all like frickin' little kids or something. I think I got signed up for the wrong damn camp. I mean, you two are like frickin' twelve and this girl here's like eight."

"I'm ten," protested Jackie, a bit offended. Sure, she was a bit small for her age, not having hit her growth spurt quite yet, but she didn't think she looked _that_ young.

"Whatever," said Lalaine, rolling her eyes at Jackie. "My point is, I'm turning sixteen in _two frickin' days_ and I'm stuck here with a bunch of lame-ass kids. And I have _no_ frickin' way to get home; my damn dad took away my car and he's on a business trip in Spain."

"What about your mom—" began Tammy.

"She's dead," Lalaine replied bluntly, her tone letting them all know that the topic was not up for discussion.

XXXXXXXX

Taylor, Jordan, Mary, and Jo all headed down to the mess hall together around 6:40 that evening; dinner was at seven. As they headed there, they passed many groups heading in the same direction. The girls were talking and laughing all the way there. They found out that Jo's older brother Jorge was one of the junior councilors for Cabin Ten and that her younger brother José was in the same cabin. Mary thought that Jo was nice enough, but she wasn't the kind of person that she normal hung out with; she was too much of a "good girl" for Mary. Mary just hoped that she would be able to find someone to sit with at dinner; Taylor and Jordan had to sit with the other junior counselors at a special table and Mary didn't feel like spending the entire meal with Jo—not that she didn't like Jo; they just didn't have a whole lot to talk about.

XXXXXXXX

Vicki and Tammy led Jackie and Lalaine to the mess hall around 6:40 that evening. They passed many other groups heading in the same direction. Jackie listened to Vicki and Tammy talking the whole way there. She thought about striking up a conversation with Lalaine, but the sixteen-year-old looked as if she didn't want to talk with some kid right now—plus she was really kind of intimidating. And not to mention Jackie wasn't exactly used to talking to girls, having only hung out with guys her whole life.

XXXXXXXX

When the Evans twins, Mary and Jo got to the mess hall, they all got in line for their food. When they all got through the line, Jo said a temporary goodbye to the Evans girls and headed over to sit with her little brother. Taylor and Jordan said goodbye to their sister and headed to the junior councilor table, where they sat with some of their friends from the summer before.

XXXXXXXX

Vicki and Tammy led Jackie and Lalaine through the line for food. The two junior councilors headed over to their table, where some of their summer camp friends from the year before were waving to them. Lalaine stalked off to an empty table and sat down by herself, which was obviously what she wanted. Jackie looked around for Joey. She finally spotted him sitting with a guy she assumed was one of his cabin mates. She headed off to sit with them.

XXXXXXXX

Mary looked around for a place to sit and someone to sit _with_. She finally saw a likely candidate: an intimidating tall girl with short, spiky, purple hair and multiple body piercings was sitting by herself at an empty table.

_Looks like my kind of girl_, thought Mary. _I think I'll give this a shot_. She walked over to the girl. "Mind if I sit here?" Mary asked. The girl just looked at her. "I'll take that as a yes," said Mary, sitting down.

The two girls just sat there eating in silence. Mary couldn't stand it anymore. "So…my name's Mary Evans. "

"Lalaine Morgan," said the girl, not looking at Mary.

"Lalaine. That's a cool name. So…you been here before?"

"No. This is my first—and last—time here."

"It's my first time too."

"Mmmm."

"It's my cousin-sisters second time here, though. They were here last summer so now they're junior councilors. Stinks though, they're off with the other jc's and I'm stuck here with no one to help me mess around and stuff."

This caught Lalaine's attention. "Maybe you're not so bad, kid," she said.

"Thanks. You seem pretty cool yourself."

"Yeah. Whatever. I guess that's what you get when your only frickin' family is a dad who travels 24/7."

"Yeah. Or when you have older _identical_ twin cousin-sister type people who are only like the biggest troublemakers ever known to man. _Ever_."

Lalaine laughed. "Sounds like your life's not lacking for excitement. So, where you from?"

"We live in Michigan—Bellaire, it's a little tiny town. But everyone in my family was born in England. We moved to the U.S. when I was like one."

"England. Cool. We lived there for about six months when I was twelve."

"Twelve?"

"I'll be sixteen in two days."

"Cool."

"Thanks. I think so too. Anyway, we live in Chicago right now. But we've lived in dozens of places. I was born in California, but we've lived in dozens of different countries and forty-four of the fifty states."

"Wow. That's—that's just…amazing!"

"Yeah. Unless you're the one getting dragged around the goddamn world from the time you were born."

"Yeah, I can see how that would get annoying."

XXXXXXXX

Jackie went over and sat down with Joey and the guy he was sitting with. "Hey Joey!"

"Jack! Hey! How's it going?"

"Good, good."

"So…oh, this is Kevin Matthews—eleven. Kevin, this is my best friend Jackie Taylor."

"Nice to meet you," said Kevin. He was—at least she assumed—tall for his age with short, chestnut brown hair, medium blue eyes, and tan skin—in other words, very cute.

"Nice to meet you too. Where are you from?" Jackie said with just a hint of flirtation.

"Ohio. Joey said you two live in Wisconsin, right?"

"Yeah, that's right... unfortunately."

"Cool."

"So Jack," said Joey, "anyone neat in your cabin?"

"Well, my junior councilors—Vicki and Tammy—are pretty normal twelve-year-olds, _way_ to girly for my taste…then there's Lalaine. She almost sixteen and she got sent to Camp Sunshine by mistake. _And_ she has no way to get home."

"Bummer."

"Yeah. She's right over there," Jackie said, pointing. "The one with the purple hair, next to…the… redheaded…girl…" Jackie trailed off and swore under her breath. Joey was staring off into space again. "Oh, just ask her out already, mate!" said Jackie, frustrated.

"I couldn't—I-I just met her…"

"I dare you."

"I don't know…"

"I _double_ dare you."

"But…"

"Come on, are you _chicken_ or something?"

That did it. "Fine. I'll do it. Right now, if you want." With that, Joey got up and headed over to the redheaded girl.

"I can't believe he's _actually_ going to do it!" said Jackie.

"Well, you _did_ double dare him," said Kevin, defending Joey.

"Yeah, but still, he should know me better by now…"

XXXXXXXX

Mary and Lalaine were talking and getting to know each other; they had just met but they were already becoming pretty good friends when all of a sudden, Mary heard someone clear his throat behind her.

"Ahem."

Mary turned around and looked up. It was the guy she had met in the camp office. _What's his name again? Jason, Jasper, Jarrod…_Joey_, his name is Joey_, she thought. "Yes?" she said. "Did you want something?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me this summer?" Joey said quickly, without pausing to take a breath.

"Sure," said Mary almost instantly. "Why not."

"Great." He seemed slightly thrown by the speed of Mary's response, but he got over that quickly. "So… you wanna hang out later. Or tomorrow. Or whatever."

"Sure. What cabin are you?"

"Ten. You?"

"Eight. Why don't you come by around, say…nine. We can do something then."

"Sounds good. Well, see you."

"See ya." Joey turned and left, glancing back at Mary and smiling stupidly all the way back to his table.

"So? First boyfriend?" asked Lalaine.

"Actually, no. I've been 'dating' for years now."

"Wow. You are definitely a strange girl. Go you!"

"Thanks. By the way, I like your shirt."

XXXXXXXX

Joey came back to Jackie and Kevin ginning. "So?" they both asked.

"I did it."

"And?" persisted Kevin.

"She said yes."

"Good for you, Joe!" said Jackie, jumping up and giving him a hug.

"Way to go, man," said Kevin, giving Joey a pat on the back.

"Thanks. We're going to do something together tonight—maybe tomorrow too."

"Awesome. You'll have to introduce us sometime," said Jackie.

"Yeah. I'll do that. Maybe later this week."

XXXXXXXX

After dinner, Mary said goodbye to Lalaine, promising to hang out with her tomorrow, and she found her cousin-sisters and Jo and the four of them headed back to their cabin. Mary then told them about what had happened at dinner. They were thrilled.

"Good for you, Red!" said the twins.

XXXXXXXX

After dinner, Jackie walked back to the cabins with the guys. When Jackie and the guys parted ways, she made Joey promise to introduce her to his new girlfriend the next day—or the day after, at the latest.

"I promise, Jack," said Joey.

"I'll hold you to it."

She overheard Joey and Kevin talking as they headed on to their cabin. "You didn't tell me she was that cute!" Kevin said, obviously thinking they were out of earshot.

"Jack's off limits," Joey said matter-of-factly.

"But—"

"No."

Jackie just shook her head as she headed into her cabin. _Every freaking time_, she thought. _Every freaking time I meet a nice, cute guy, Joey stops it before anything even happens. Figures._

XXXXXXXX

At nine o'clock sharp, there was a knock on the door of Cabin Eight. "Coming!" called Mary. She opened the door.

It was Joey, right on time. "Hey."

"Hi."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Mary stuck her head back inside and said, "Tay, Jor, I'm going now. Be back later!"

"Have fun!" the twins called. With that, Mary and Joey set off on their first date.

XXXXXXXX

Joey and Mary walked around the camp for a while, swapping stories and talking about their lives. They were having a great time.

"So, where do you live?" asked Joey.

"Michigan. You?"

"Wisconsin. But I used to live in North Carolina; I was born there."

"Cool. I was born in England. We moved to the U.S. when I was like one."

"Wow! England! That's so cool! Ya know, I think that my mom was from England. I think…"

"Coolness. Yeah, my whole family is from England. Actually, I'm the only one who doesn't have an accent—probably because I'm the youngest."

"I see. You have siblings?"

"Sorta. Older _identical_ twin cousin-sisters—Taylor and Jordan." At Joey's quizzical look, she elaborated, "They're biologically my cousins, but I've lived with them since I was one, so they're really more like sisters now. They're twelve. Well, almost. They're here at camp too."

"Were they the ones who were with you at the camp office?"

"Yeah, that's them. So, what about you?"

"Well, I have an older brother—Izzy. He's sixteen."

"Awesome. What about that girl you were eating dinner with?"

"Who? Jackie? Oh, she's my best friend—we've been friends our whole lives. She's just like one of the guys."

"Sounds neat."

XXXXXXXX

The next day, Joey kept up his end of the bargain. That afternoon, Joey led Mary over to the table in the mess hall where Jackie and Kevin were sitting. "Jackie, there's someone I'd like you to meet; this is my girlfriend, Mary. Mary, this is my best friend Jackie."

"Nice to meet you," said Jackie, looking Mary up and down.

"Same here," said Mary, doing the same. Both thought that there was something _very_ familiar about the other, but neither could quite place her finger on it.

"Well," said Joey, "I'm going to eat with Mary today. See you later, Jack."

"Kay. Have fun!"

"Nice to meet you, Jackie. Bye!"

With that, Mary and Joey walked off. Joey had his arm around her and Mary leaned in and kissed Joey. "That was nice," he said.

"Thanks. I've had some practice."

Jackie could still see and hear all of this. "Wow, she's one strange girl," she said.

"Uh-huh," agreed Kevin, trying desperately not to ogle the redhead hanging off of Joey's arm.

* * *

The rest of their stay at Camp Sunshine was awesome. Mary, Joey, the Evans twins, and Lalaine hung out a lot together. When he wasn't busy with Mary, Joey found time to hang with Jackie. Because Joey was so busy with Mary and her friends, though, Jackie spent a lot of time with Kevin.

When the time finally came to go home, everyone was sad to say goodbye and leave. They all promised to write and keep in touch. Mary and Joey broke up, but promised to remain friends; they were realistic and realized that a long distance relationship at their age wasn't really going to work out.

Jackie and Kevin kept in touch for a few months, but that was it (neither one had a long enough memory span to remember to write back). Mary and Joey sent each other a few letters and emails over the next couple years, but nothing major. Mary even managed to keep in touch with Lalaine. She and Lalaine became very good pen pals and would remain so for many years to come. Mary and Jackie didn't really remember meeting each other at all after they left camp, at least not until after they met again a year later…

* * *

**~ R&R No flames please! ~**


	3. Chapter 3: Magical Blowups and Other Fun

**Note:** Just for clarification, in this chapter & the last one, when these kids are talking about thier boyfriends/girlfriends it's in the "ooo, he/she held my hand!"/a peck on the cheeks (maybe lips) kind of way not the more traditional sense of the word--they're still really young yet; they'll get to the more traditional definition of boyfriend/girlfriend soon enough. You have to remember too that Mary and Cassi aren't exactly your average kids, so some of the things they do may seem strange or far too mature for them, but that's just thier nature--especially Mary (after all, Mary's the one who has to girly-fy Cassi and teach her what 'that tubey thing' is. ;)

* * *

**Magical Blowups and Other Funness**

Ten years after the night she had been left on the Evans' doorstep, the girl then called Cassi Black had not a clue as to who she really was. When Alex Evans had brought her to her new parents, Tracy and Ian Taylor, she had been given a new name: Jacqueline Taylor. She had no clue that she had been born in England, or that the family she had been living with wasn't her real family. As far as she was concerned, she was no different than anyone else in Wisconsin...well, maybe just a _little_ different. But she just figured that was because she had recently (_only_ five and a half years ago) moved there from North Carolina, her childhood home. Besides her little "quirks," her life appeared to be nothing but normal.

XXXXXXXX

Early in the summer, Jackie and her best friend Joey were camping out in his backyard. Joey's family had moved up to Wisconsin within a week of Jackie's; the two of them had been together for as long as they could remember. He was the only guy that Jackie was allowed to have sleepovers with, and that was only because he was like a second son to Tracy and Ian. It was the last night of the last weekend of their fifth grade school year, so Jackie and Joey were celebrating their "freedom" early.

"I can't believe we _actually_ survived the year," Joey said as he roasted a marshmallow over their small campfire.

"Forget the year, I'm still in utter awe that _I_ actually made it all the way through elementary school without being expelled!" Jackie playfully said before she shoved a s'more in her mouth.

"Or without getting _me_ expelled in the process!" added Joey, teasingly.

"And I _still_ can't believe that we managed to move to the same place at the same time! I mean, come on, really, what are the chances of that?" Jackie said before she shoved another s'more in her mouth.

"I know! Not to mention that we somehow got in the same class every year since then."

"I guess we're just lucky like that," Jackie replied with a small shrug of her shoulders. Suddenly, dramatically, and randomly, Jackie switched topics. "Hey man, Truth or Dare?"

"Oh no, there is _no_ way I'm playing Truth or Dare with you again, Jack!" protested Joey, shaking his head. "Do you know how close we came to getting arrested last time?!"

"Wuss!" challenged Jackie. "C'mon, you _honestly_ think that you can resist playing our favorite game?"

"No, I _know_ I can."

"Please? I promise I won't give you anything bad," begged Jackie, giving her best friend her best puppy dog face.

"You swear?" challenged Joey, crossing his arms and warily raising his eyebrow at her.

"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye," replied Jackie, crossing her heart as she said so.

"Okay, fine, I'll play...Truth."

Jackie gave an almost maniacal grin. "Did you really tell Sam that he couldn't go out with me?"

Joey suddenly looked around nervously, scared of Jack's reaction. "I don't wanna say; you'll hurt me!"

"Hello? That would be breaking the rules that we made," said Jackie, doing her best to sound offended. "I won't do anything, honest."

"Okay, yeah, I did." Seeing the look that Jackie was giving him, Joey quickly added, "But only because he was talking about you like you were some kind of prize or something."

Once Jackie had calmed down and didn't look like she wanted to murder him in his sleep, Joey decided that it was safe to continue their game. "Your turn, Jack: Truth or Dare?"

Jackie contemplated this for a moment before deciding to surprise the sandy-haired boy. "Truth."

"Since when does Jackie T ever pick Truth?" asked Joey, sincerely shocked at the black haired girl's choice.

"I'm full of surprises," said Jackie, smiling mischievously at him.

"Okay...um...Have you ever kissed anybody?"

"You ask that every time I pick Truth, Joe! And I always give you the same answer: no. And when I _do_ kiss someone, you'll be the first— well, technically second—to know, kay? Truth or Dare?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dare."

"I dare you to play Fluffy Bunnies with me. Whoever loses has to take the tent down in the morning."

"Okay, but no cheating—"

"_Moi?_" Jackie said, putting on her most "innocent" face and doing her best to sound affronted.

"Yes you! C'mon, hand over the marshmallows."

The two best friends began the task of stuffing their mouths with marshmallows and trying to say "Fluffy Bunnies" without choking. They only got to five each before they started to laugh so hard that they couldn't have talked even if they _hadn't_ had their mouths full.

As soon as they were able to swallow, they both lay back on the grass. "Okay, Joe, who won there?" Jackie asked through her laughs.

"I dunno," replied Joey, desperately trying to stop so that he could once again breath. "I think it was a tie...ow, my sides hurt! Rematch?"

"Not tonight, I don't think I could say it even with just one in my mouth!"

"You know, I have a feeling someday we'll be too old for this—" said Joey suddenly, rolling over on his side to face the gray-eyed girl lying beside him.

Jackie turned to face her childhood friend. "What, the camping or the Fluffy Bunnies?"

"Both. And the Truth or Dare."

"Well, when that day comes, shoot me," said Jackie, rolling onto her back and gazing up at the stars.

"You don't have to ask twice—" said Joey mischievously.

"HEY!" protested Jackie.

That started one of their famous shoving/ wrestling matches. It was all in good fun, but they had been using it as a way to settle arguments for as long as either of them could remember. And, as usual, Jackie ended up pinning her old friend down. "How do you _always_ do that?" he said once she let him up.

"I'm just good. Plus you always fall for the same tricks. On a completely different and random note, your birthday's coming up soon."

"Uh-huh…" said Joey, raising her eyebrow questionably at her.

"So what do you want?" said Jackie, as if it were the most obvious question in the world (which it kind of was, unless you were incredibly dense like both Joey and Jackie were). "And for that matter, what do you want to _do_?"

"You know what I'd really like?" said Joey, suddenly serious.

"What's that?" asked Jackie curiously.

"To go back home—to North Carolina," replied Joey.

"I wish we could too...but considering we're only eleven, that isn't going to happen anytime soon—at least not by ourselves."

"I know," sighed Joey, "but that's what I really want for my birthday. Besides, you know you don't have to get me anything."

"How long have we been friends, Joseph Michael Vaughn?" asked Jackie, propping herself up on her elbows and staring incredulously at Joey.

"Longer than _either_ of us can remember..."

"And have I ever _once_ listened when you tell me that?"

"Hey, there's a first time for everything," said Joey with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Whatever, man," said Jackie, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm still going to get you something. Pass the chocolate." Once they finished devouring their snacks and the fire had finally died out, Joey and Jackie finally crawled into their tent and went to sleep.

XXXXXXXX

Jackie's dreams started out good. She was dreaming of the last time that her family and Joey's had gone to the beach. Then suddenly everything went downhill.

She was in a dark cramped room and there were a few people outside of the door that was open just a crack: It was the same nightmare she always had. An angry man's voice could be heard from a distance, what he was saying, she couldn't tell. Then a pretty blonde woman came into sight. She had a toddler boy—also blonde—with her. The angry man quickly came into sight too. He was really pale and had long blonde hair that was left loose and flowing down his back. All Jackie could understand him saying was "Where is the girl?" Then there was an argument between him and the woman. Suddenly there was a flash of green light and a loud crashing sound. After the cruel laugh died away, she was filled with fear and a loneliness that went deeper than anything she ever knew.

Jackie awoke suddenly with a start and jumped up, gasping for breath. "Jackie? What's wrong?" Joey said sleepily.

"I had the dream again, the one with the green light," she said, shaking.

"Come here," he said as he hugged his friend. "Its okay, Jack, it's just a dream."

"But it seems so real..." Jackie whispered as she put her head on his shoulder.

"Listen to me, Jackie; nothing bad is going to happen to you. Not as long as I can help it."

"You promise?" asked Jackie, sounding so small and scared.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," replied Joey, wanting nothing more at that moment than to do everything in his power to protect his best friend/ sister.

"I just wish I knew why I keep having the same nightmare," said Jackie shakily, as she left Joey's shoulder and hastily wiped the tears from her face. "I mean, what do I have to do with these people?"

"Maybe it's from something you saw on TV when we were little," suggested Joey, wishing he could do more to help her.

"Maybe..." said Jackie, thoroughly unconvinced.

"Why don't you try to go back to sleep?" suggested Joey, seeing how tired and shaken up the black haired tomboy was. "I'll hold onto your hand; that usually keeps your nightmares away."

"Okay...thanks, Joey," muttered Jackie as she slowly drifted back to sleep.

XXXXXXXX

About a week later, it was finally Joey's birthday. Both the Taylors and the Vaughns went to the zoo—an old tradition that nobody wanted to break—to celebrate. Apparently both Joey _and_ Jackie's older brothers were getting a little sick of it, though.

"Aren't you two a bit too old to be going to the zoo?" Joey's brother Izzy complained.

"You can never be too old for this!" Jackie and Joey said together, huge grins adorning their faces.

"And we haven't been to this one before. Quit whining, Izzy, we're going," his dad said matter-of-factly.

"Why do I have to go? It's not like he's _my_ brother!" Jackie's brother Shawn grumbled.

"Because I said so," Tracy said sternly, shutting Shawn up almost instantly. That said, they all loaded into the cars and headed off to the zoo.

XXXXXXXX

The second they got through paying for admission, Joey and Jackie started to take off on their own. "Hold it you two," Ian said while grabbing the backs of their shirts. "What are the rules?"

"Always stick together," Joey and Jackie chorused together.

"And?"

"Don't mess with the animals—"

"Or?"

"The workers—"

"Or?"

"The other people."

"Dad, we've been through this a _thousand_ times! And we didn't even do anything wrong last time! That keeper was _so_ out to get us!" Jackie complained.

"Fine. But don't forget to meet us here at noon for lunch," Tracy said.

Lecture over, the eleven-year-olds finally ran off as fast as they could, with Jackie leading the way. They didn't come to a stop until they were outside of the reptile house. It was one of their favorite places in the zoo and _always_ a first stop, no matter what zoo they went to.

"I wonder if they have a snake like Monty here?" Jackie said as she tried to catch her breath.

"Probably...I wonder if they'll have it out," said Joey, bending down and taking deep gulps of air.

"I hope so, I love pythons!" said Jackie grinning happily.

"You are a _very_ odd girl, Jack."

"What?" said Jackie, grinning. "Don't you ever get the feeling that if you tried hard enough to talk to them, they might talk back?"

"No, Jack, that's only you," said Joey, shaking his head at her strange antics. "But they _are_ cool."

Jackie and Joey were slightly disappointed when they got inside. The zoo _did_ have the big python that Jackie was talking about, along with a few others, but not a single animal was out for the people to hold.

Jack and Joe went around to some of the other exhibits, joking around—but keeping their promise to Jackie's dad—and snapping pictures from time to time. Before they knew it, it was almost time to meet their families.

"Okay, I think we have time for _one_ more exhibit before they send out the search parties," Joey said while looking at his watch.

"Let's go see the grizzlies! I've never seen one before!" Jackie said, pointing excitedly to a sign.

"You read my mind!" said Joey with a grin as he grabbed her hand and ran off down the marked path.

XXXXXXXX

While Joey and Jackie were watching the bear swim around in its little lake...pond...thing…Jackie heard an all too familiar voice behind her: it was her "archenemy" (or so Joey said) Tino Ramirez. He had done everything in his power to make her life miserable ever since she had moved to Wisconsin.

"Joe, let's get out of here," she whispered frantically, tugging on his shirt sleeve.

"Why?" asked Joey, quizzically.

"Because I'm pretty sure that I just heard Tino, and I am _so_ not in the mood to deal with him right now," Jackie hissed back.

"He probably won't even notice you," said Joey, trying not to sound frustrated; this feud of theirs was getting rather old. "C'mon, Jack, how long are you going to hide from him?"

"Until I can fight back—"

"Just fight dirty," he said as Jackie gave him a weird look and Joey shrugged his shoulders. "That's what Izzy and Shawn always tell _me_ when I need to fight someone."

"I'll have to remember that—" Jackie muttered to herself.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? _Una chiquita _muy_ pequeña_," Tino sneered behind her.

Jackie swore under her breath as she turned, "What do _you_ want, _Tino_?"

"I thought I told you to go back to the hills where you came from, _bruja_."

"Bugger off, Tino!" Joey said as he half stepped protectively in front of his friend.

"I don't think I will," Tino sneered, stepping closer to Jackie and her protector.

"I can handle this myself, Joey," Jackie hissed.

"Aw, you're not going to have your little _novio_ stick up for you?"

Jackie felt like fire was flowing through her veins. More than anything at that moment, she wished that she could finally stand up to Tino and make him go away. All of the sudden, Tino began to scream like a little girl. It looked as if something had picked him up by the foot and was slowly dragging him over to the grizzly exhibit. People in the crowd began to scream, which made Jackie jump and turn away. At the same moment, Tino fell back to the ground, just inches away from the fence of the bears' cage. He edged around Jackie keeping as far away from her as possible.

"_¡Bruja! ¡Bruja!_" was all they could understand of the Spanish he was mumbling.

Jackie, still in shock, just stood there until Joey pulled on her arm. _Did I really do that?! s_he thought to herself in a panic. _I thought about throwing him over, but I wasn't _really_ going to!_

"Jackie! Let's get out of here!" Joey hissed at her.

She nodded automatically, in shock, but he still had to _literally_ drag her away. They both knew that weird stuff happened around Jackie all the time, but this was by_ far_ the worst thing that had ever happened…so far.

When Joey and Jackie finally met up with their families, Jackie was still in a daze. She was so out of it that she didn't even notice the look Tracy and Ian gave each other—but Joey did. He decided to keep quiet about it for the time being, though. To avoid any further problems, everyone decided that Jackie should go home. Izzy and Shawn didn't miss a beat when they volunteered to take her back—even though Izzy was the only one of the two who could drive.

XXXXXXXX

That night, Joey stopped by Jackie's house—where he basically lived half the time anyway—before dinner to make sure that she was still okay. Unsurprisingly, he found her sitting on her window seat in her bedroom.

"Everything okay, Jack?" he asked hesitantly, walking over to join her on her window seat.

Jackie sighed. "To be honest Joe, no. I _seriously_ think that I did...whatever it was that happened at the zoo."

"If it makes you feel any better, Tino is terrified of you—" said Joey, trying desperately to lighten the mood and make Jackie feel better.

"Are you?" asked Jackie timidly—she didn't want to lose her best friend just because she was some kind of freak.

Joey shrugged. "Weird stuff happens around you _all_ the time, Jack, I'm used to it. Besides, I could _never_ be afraid of my Jackie!" Joey added, getting a laugh out of his friend.

"Oh!" she said as she jumped up suddenly. "I almost forgot to give you your present! Close your eyes, I couldn't figure out how to wrap it." She dove underneath her bed and, after banging her head a few times—and some minor swearing under her breath—she emerged with the present she had been working on for a week. "Okay, open your eyes!"

Joey's eyes went wide with surprise. "Wow, wh-what is it?"

"It's North Carolina in a bottle for you—or at least Holden Beach," she said smiling nervously—though she didn't know _why_, seeing as she and Joey had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. "That way you always have a piece of home with you no matter where we live," she said as she watched him nervously. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I _love_ it! Thanks Jackie!" he said as he pulled her into a big hug.

* * *

Nearly ten years had passed since Alex had woken up to find Mary on his front step back in England. Had the Evans been back to Privet Drive, they would have found that not much had changed. At the Evans home in Bellaire, Michigan—a _very_ small town—things were much the same as they had been in England. Taylor and Jordan were almost thirteen now and they still got into plenty of trouble—though they had also gotten better at not getting caught. From an early age, they had taken the now almost-eleven-year-old Mary under their wing and were teaching her how to be a "professional" troublemaker—not that she really needed a whole lot of guidance in that area in the first place, as it seemed to be something she was just born with (much like her fiery red hair).

The Evans home looked like any other—well, at least like any other that had three troublemaking preteen/ teenage girls. The mantle over the fireplace and the walls of most of the rooms were full of pictures. Over the mantle in the living room hung Ana and Alex's wedding picture and the mantle itself was covered with pictures of Taylor, Jordan, and Mary as well as the Evans, the Dursleys, the Wools—Ana's side of the family—and Harry Potter. Right underneath their wedding picture, right in the center, Alex had hung a picture of Lily (Alex's baby sister) and James Potter—it was they only _muggle_ picture he had of the two of them (not that Mary knew about the whole muggle vs. magical thing—Alex hadn't yet gotten around to telling her).

XXXXXXXX

Mary woke up extra early the morning of June 22, 1999, more commonly referred to in the Evans' household as Taylor and Jordan's thirteenth birthday. Today was special too because Alex and Ana were going to take the girls and their "boyfriends" (so much as any teenage or pre-teen girl would count them) to New York City for a few days.

Mary quickly got dressed and ran into her cousin-sisters' bedroom. "Taylor! Jordan! Happy birthday!" Mary said loudly, bouncing into the room.

Taylor and Jordan groaned in unison (they always did that, and truth be told it was sometimes a bit creepy). "You're far too perky this morning," complained Taylor, groggily.

"I'm just so excited!" Mary exclaimed, bouncing around the room, unable to stay still.

"Turn down your perkiness, please; 'snot natural," complained Jordan as groggily as her twin.

"But I've never been to New York City before!" said Mary, pouting playfully.

"Well, neither have we," said Taylor, burying her head back in her pillow.

"And _we're_ not that unnaturally perky," added Jordan, with a yawn.

"Well, hurry up and get dressed," said Mary, not at all bothered by the twins' lack of enthusiasm. "We still have to pick up Blake and Michael and Steve before we leave," said Mary before leaving the twins' bedroom and heading downstairs. "Steve. Leave. Funny," Mary added, laughing, as she headed out the door.

"I suppose we have to get up now," grumbled Jordan, reluctantly pulling the covers off of herself.

"Unfortunately," groaned Taylor, doing the same.

XXXXXXXX

An hour later, a groggy Taylor and Jordan joined Mary, Alex, and Ana in the kitchen. "Happy birthday!" the three non-birthday people chorused.

"We have to get going soon if we're going to make it there by tomorrow afternoon," said Alex, smiling lovingly at his twin daughters.

An hour later, the girls' suitcases were packed and in the van and Alex, Ana, and the girls piled in. They had to stop three times to pick up Taylor and Jordan's "boyfriends"—rising high school freshmen Blake Andrew and Michael Perk—and Mary's "boyfriend"—rising eighth-grader Steve Simons.

They all had a great time in the car, talking and laughing and joking together. That night they stayed at a hotel in Ohio—the boys in one room with Alex and the girls in another with Ana. The girls tried to stay up talking, but Ana yelled at them and told them to go to sleep. Besides, they were really, really tired—more so than normal—from getting up so early and spending the _entire_ day in the van.

XXXXXXXX

By the next afternoon, they had finally arrived in New York City. "Ooooh! Mum! Can we go see a play? Pleeeeeease!" asked Taylor.

"Yeah, pleeeeeeeease! _Annie_ is playing, see?" added Jordan.

"Sure thing, girls," said Ana, smiling. "We can do whatever you like. This _is_ your birthday celebration, after all."

"Girls," interrupted Alex, "can we go to the hotel first? We need to drop off our bags, and we have birthday presents for you!"

"Presents? For us? Yeah!" exclaimed Taylor and Jordan.

Mary was so excited to be in New York; she could barely contain her enthusiasm and thus commented on anything and everything. "Wow! Look Steve! You can see the Statue of Liberty…sort of."

"Yeah, whatever," Steve replied. Mary frowned slightly. She had only been dating Steve since…a month ago. She wasn't sure how long this would last; he seemed kind of insensitive and uninterested in Mary and her feelings—even though _he_ had been the one to ask _her_ out in the first place.

XXXXXXXX

Again the Evans and their charges had two adjoining rooms—one for the boys, one for the girls. Once they had dropped off their bags, they all gathered in the girls' room to watch Taylor and Jordan open their presents. Taylor and Jordan sat on the couch, their respective boyfriends with their arms around them; Mary sat on the chair with Steve standing behind her, paying almost no attention to her at all; and Ana sat on the other chair with Alex behind her, making it _very_ obvious that he was still completely interested and in love with his wife. _Just as it should be_, thought Mary, frowning slightly at Steve (Mary was a secret romantic at heart). Steve, apparently, didn't even notice.

"Okay, girls," said Alex, handing the twins a small, brown box, "this one is from Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley, and Harry." The twins let out a collective groan.

"Why do they even bother sending us gifts? It's not like they really like us at all," complained Jordan.

"Yeah," added Taylor. "Besides all they ever send us is pictures of themselves and—if we're _lucky_— something that looks like it came from a junk shop."

"A really sucky junk shop," added Jordan.

"Language!"

"Sorry Mum."

"Do we even have to open it?" asked Taylor.

"Yes, you do," replied Alex firmly. "Petunia is my younger sister and Dudley and Harry are your cousins. Besides, they spent all that money to ship this overseas. You can at _least_ show them some respect by opening it." Taylor and Jordan grudgingly opened the box together.

"Oh. Joy. Look, more pictures," said Taylor sarcastically, pulling out a family picture of the Dursley's and Harry's school picture.

"And look," added Jordan, just as sarcastically, "junk shop necklaces. Two of them. Oh, double joy."

"Girls…" warned Alex.

"Sorry, Dad, but honestly…" said Taylor.

"…are these bloody people like _demented_ or something?" finished Jordan.

Alex decided that it wasn't worth it to argue with his twin daughters, so he gave up and handed them an envelope. "Oh!" exclaimed Taylor, sounding instantly happier. "It's from Grandma Essie and Grandpa Joseph!"

"You know what that means…" said Jordan, a smile beginning to spread across both her and Taylor's sun-tanned faces. The twins smiled mischievously at each other.

"…MONEY!" they cried. Mary couldn't help herself as she joined the twins as they burst into a fit of laughter; Grandma Essie and Grandpa Joseph always sent the girls money no matter _what_ the occasion.

Alex shook his head, smiling slightly, and handed the girls another package. "This is from your Great-Grandma Franciszka," he said. The girls opened up the box. Inside was a pile of homemade candy, two hand sewn jumpers, and…two checks.

"Cool," the twins said together. "What's next?"

Alex and Ana grinned at each other. "This is for you girls, from your mum and me," he said, handing them another box.

Taylor and Jordan opened it. "Wicked! Cell phones! Thanks Mum! Thanks Dad!"

"You're welcome girls," said Alex. "Oh, and by the way, they have the same number so you can do that thing you like so much—you know, where you're _both_ talking to the _same_ person on the phone at the _same_ time?" The twins grinned sheepishly at this and Mary snickered.

"Anyway," said Mary, impatient to give her gift, "this is from me. Hope you like it." She handed her cousin-sisters a small brightly colored box. Taylor and Jordan opened the box.

"Oh, Mary! Thank you!" exclaimed Jordan, jumping up to hug Mary.

"!" exclaimed Taylor, jumping up to join her twin in hugging their little cousin-sister.

Mary was getting squished. "You very welcome, but if you don't mind, I'd like to be able to breathe, please," she said, gasping for air.

"Oh, sorry," they said, sitting back down, smiling like mad.

"Well," said Ana, raising her eyebrows at her twin daughters, "are you going to let us know what it is?"

"Only our favorite movie _ever_!" exclaimed the twins.

"_Annie_?" said Blake and Michael together.

"Our _other_ favorite movie," said Jordan.

"Oh…"

"The new version of _The Parent Trap_!" said Taylor.

"Ohhh!"

Blake and Michael then proceeded to give their girlfriends their gifts. Taylor got a necklace and the soundtrack to _Annie_ from Blake and Jordan got a necklace and the original _Annie_ movie from Michael. They all celebrated for a little while longer before heading out into the city for some birthday fun.

XXXXXXXX

The first thing they all did—as promised—was go and see _Annie_ on Broadway. After that the Evans and their guests spent the rest of the day shopping along the city streets before stopping at a fancy restaurant for Taylor and Jordan's birthday dinner extravaganza. After dinner they went to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. By this time they were all so pooped out that they had to go back to the hotel.

Once back in the hotel, Taylor and Jordan pulled Mary aside to talk with her. "Mary, mate," said Taylor quietly, "we need you to do us a _huge_ favor."

Jordan continued, "Michael and Blake have a nice evening surprise planned for us, but it'll be _ruined_ if Mum and Dad are here."

"So we need you and Steve to get Mum and Dad out of the hotel for a couple of hours."

"Can you do it, Red?"

"No problem," replied Mary. "But you _so_ owe me!"

"You're the best, Red!" they twins said, giving her a quick hug.

XXXXXXXX

True to her word, Mary had convinced her pseudo-parents to take her and Steve for an evening of fun in Central Park. The four of them went down to the park together and started walking around.

"Ohhh! Look! There's the zoo!" cried Mary happily. "Let's go there!"

"The zoo?" said Steve snobbishly, "Isn't that sort of _juvenile_?"

"Oh shut up, Steve," said Mary, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go!"

Mary had to _literally_ drag Steve all the way to the zoo, with her pseudo-parents following them. When they got there, they walked around looking at all the animals. Steve was complaining the _entire _time and it was _really_ getting on Mary's nerves.

The first weird thing happened when they got to the reptile exhibit. Mary was looking at a python (Monty Python, to be precise) and Steve was sitting on a bench, looking very bored as he waited for Mary. Mary looked right into the snake's eyes. "I bet _you're_ more fun than _him_," she muttered quietly.

The snake looked right back at her. _Yeah, he does seem rather annoying, not to mention _completely_ boring_, replied the snake.

"I'm glad that _someone_ agrees with me!" Mary huffed.

It wasn't until after they left the reptile exhibit that Mary actually realized what had taken place. _I just talked to a bloody snake!_ she thought. _And worse, it talked _back_! I think I'm going insane or something!_

XXXXXXXX

Mary and Steve had finally gotten to the lion exhibit, the last exhibit they planned to visit, and Ana and Alex were still one exhibit behind them. "This is boring. How long can a person look at a stupid cat?" complained Steve.

That was it. "STEVE, I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR COMPLAINING! IF YOU CAN'T DO _ONE BLOODY SIMPLE THING_—LIKE GO TO THE FRICKIN' ZOO—WITH ME, THAN WE'RE _THROUGH_. DO YOU HEAR ME, STEVE? WE'RE _THROUGH_!" As Mary finished yelling at Steve, something extremely strange happened: Steve suddenly went flying over the bars of the lion's pen and landed on the ground in between two sleeping lions.

"Oh my God!" cried a fat lady in a purple flowered dress. "That kid just went flying into the lion's pen! Somebody call security!"

Mary was in shock. She just stood there, mouth agape. She had _thought_ about pushing Steve into the lion's pen, but she hadn't…she didn't think. _Did I do that?_ thought Mary. _No, that's not possible…There's no frickin' way… _This wasn't the first odd thing that had ever happened to Mary, but it was _definitely_ the biggest _and_ the worst to date.

Alex, who had seen the whole thing, told Ana to get security before rushing over to Mary. He was _pretty_ sure of what had happened, though he remained silent for the time being. "Come on, Mary. Security will get Steve out," said Alex, pulling his redheaded niece/daughter to him, comforting her. "We're going back to the hotel now, love. Ana will stay and make sure Steve is okay, alright?" Mary—still in shock—could only nod at her uncle-father. Alex, holding Mary firmly by the shoulders, walked her speedily out of the zoo and back to the hotel.

When Alex got Mary back to the hotel, Taylor and Jordan and their boyfriends were all in their own rooms (they had heard Alex coming). Alex made sure that Mary was lying down in her own bed before going down to the lobby to wait for Ana and Steve. After Alex left, Mary drifted slowly off to sleep, still amazed by what had happened.

XXXXXXXX

The next day, they all headed back to Michigan. The night before, Ana had rented a car so that she could take Steve home quickly, so it was just Alex, Mary, Taylor, Jordan, Blake and Michael. Once again, they had to stop at a hotel in Ohio and the room arrangements were the same as before: guys in one room, girls in the other.

That night, Taylor and Jordan wouldn't leave Mary alone until she told them all about what had happened at the zoo; their parents hadn't told them a thing.

"C'mon, Red, tell us what happened!" said Taylor coming over to sit next to Mary on her bed.

"Yeah, don't hold out on us now, mate; you never have before," added Jordan, joining her twin on the bed with Mary.

Taylor and Jordan gave Mary their best puppy-dog faces. Mary sighed and gave in. "I don't know…it's really kinda weird…and _way_ freaksome."

"No secrets, remember?" prodded Taylor.

"We made a pact," added Jordan, crossing her arms as her twin did the same.

"Okay fine," sighed Mary, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Here goes: Uncle Alex and Aunt Ana took me and Steve to the Central Park Zoo last night and Steve was complaining about it and saying how it was so 'juvenile' and all that. Well, this started to get on my last nerve. We walked around and looked at all the animals, then we got to our last stop—which happened to be the lions. Steve made some bloody obnoxious comment that was just the _last straw_ so…I let him have it. And I broke up with him. Then I imagined him getting thrown into the lion pen and, lo and behold, that's just was happened. It was like magic and I-I think…" Mary trailed off. "I-I think somehow _I _did it. I'm not sure exactly how that's even possibly possible, but I just got this weird feeling like, you know…"

"Wow, Red. Just…wow," said Jordan, in awe.

"We are _so_ totally on your side about the whole thing," added Taylor, supporting her sister wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, Steve was a _total_ arse," said Jordan.

"You were _so_ right to dump the jerk," added Taylor.

"_Totally_. As to the other thing…"

"...I'm sure there's some sort of logical explanation…"

"...Yeah, it'll all be okay, you'll see."

"Just try not to think about it, yeah?"

"Thanks guys," said Mary, starting to feel a bit better now that she had shared. "That helped; I feel a bit better now. Thanks."

"What are almost-sisters for?" the twins said together, smiling at their favorite (*coughonlycough*) little almost-sister.

"You guys are the best," said Mary, hugging her cousin-sisters.

As they pulled out of the hug, the twins added, "You know Red, when you dump a guy you're not supposed to _literally_ dump him…even if he is a total jackass…" This led to a good old-fashioned shoving match, which ended in a pile of incessantly giggling girls.

XXXXXXXX

When the Evans got home the next day, Mary found out that Steve was okay—except for a broken arm _and_ a broken leg—but the two of them avoided each other from that point on. Mary—for the most part—forgot about Steve after a day or two and she moved on to her next boyfriend: rising seventh-grader Tommy Harding. As for the event itself, well, Mary just pushed it deep down into her subconscious, hoping against hope that there would be no reason to _ever_ bring it up again.

* * *

**A/N: **So the thing with Tay & Jor & their boyfriends--_they're just hanging out!!!!_ That's _it_!!! They're only 13, for Merlin's sake!!! Get your minds out of the gutter, people!!! ;)

**~R & R-- No Flames Please!~**


	4. Chapter4:The Secret Pasts of Two Witches

**Note:**It's been a while, huh? Well, there was some stuff in this story that required major editing, so it took a while to fix it all. By the way, you may want to go back and re-read the previous chapters--especially chapter 3. There's been some major revisions. Not so much with chapter 1 (it's just like a sentence at the bottom), though. Anywho...I think that's all my rambling for now....

**Note Number the Second:**The various pieces of the Hogwarts letter & the Gringotts entrance poem are not ours. They belong solely to JK Rowling...for now... Same goes for anything you recognize in Ollivander's wand schpeil. Basically, if you recognize it, we don't own it. Or you're just very in-tuned with out mind...which is a scary place to be, believe us...

**Warning:**This chapter contains a bit of bad language--aka cussing. If this offends you in any way, shape, or form, don't continue reading. Gracias a ustedes por sus tiempo!!!

* * *

**The Secret Pasts of Two Witches**

Jackie Taylor was sitting in her room on her window seat watching TV. Not that this was what she _wanted_ to be doing; she _wanted_to be outside spending this particularly wonderful, sunshiny summers day wandering through the woods or restocking "The Laugh Shack" (the secret cabin she and Joey had found in the middle of the woods three summers ago), but she was grounded once again for fighting with Tino Ramirez. It wasn't like it was even her fault, either—_he_ had hit _her_ first.

It was just starting to get dark out when Jackie thought she saw something moving outside. She did a double take and looked harder out of the window. Finding nothing, she just passed it off as a deer or a coyote. Not long after she had dismissed the…something…she heard the doorbell ring. Since all of Jackie's friends knew that she was grounded, she just stayed put, knowing that it couldn't possibly be for her.

Whoever was at the door had everyone talking loud enough for Jackie to hear all of them over her TV, which she turned up while swearing under her breath. "No frickin' respect for a girl just trying to while away a perfectly good summer day just watching the damn TV. 'Snot _my_fault that Tino got a frickin' bloody nose; _he_ _totally_ hit me first!" Jackie mumbled to herself, flipping aimlessly through the channels.

"Jack?" her mom Tracy yelled up to her.

"What?" Jackie yelled back over her TV.

"Could you come downstairs for a minute? There's someone here who wants to talk to you!"

"Fine! Hold on a sec!" she yelled back. Turning off her TV, Jackie quickly fixed her hair—which was out of control, as usual—before she ran out of her room and down the stairs.

XXXXXXXX

Jackie about fell over when she saw the person who was standing in the front hall: it was an old man with long, silver hair and a silver beard that went down to about his knees wearing half-moon spectacles over his twinkling blue eyes. But that wasn't even the weirdest part; the man was wearing the _strangest_ clothes that Jackie had ever seen in her life—well, not including some of the stuff from TV and the movies, but that didn't really count anyway. The people in her reoccurring nightmares dressed like this man, though—one of the characters in her nightmare even looked somewhat like him. Jackie looked at her parents quizzically for a sign as to what she was supposed to do or say. When neither of them moved, she slowly stepped into the hallway.

Smiling a smile that reached all the way to his twinkling blue eyes, the old man spoke, addressing Jackie. "Allow me to introduce myself, Miss Taylor: I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, your great-uncle—"

"What do you mean you're my 'great-uncle?'" interrupted Jackie.

Dumbledore smiled again, the strange twinkle never leaving his eyes. "I didn't expect you would remember me after all these years, my dear…"

As Jackie stepped closer to this strange old man, it seemed as if she _did_somehow remember him. Something about the twinkle in his blue eyes reminded her of...something…she couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was…"Your eyes look familiar..." she said slowly, after scrutinizing him for a moment. "No offense or anything, Professor, but I'm not related to any Dumbledores...am I? What the hell's going on here?"

"Language, Jacqueline," said her father, Ian, sharply, causing her brother Shawn to snicker.

"Sorry," Jackie muttered, rolling her eyes.

Dumbledore smiled brightly at the grey-eyed girl. "This will all make sense in a few minutes, my dear. As to what exactly is going on, well, I just flew in from England to deliver a very special message to you, my dear _Jacqueline_."

"Okay..." said Jackie, a bit apprehensive and cringing at the sound of her full name.

Dumbledore suddenly turned to her parents. "Tracy, Ian, you don't mind if _I_ tell her, do you?"

"Go ahead, Professor; we've been putting this off for too long anyway," Ian said quietly.

Nodding almost imperceptibly, Dumbledore turned back to Jackie, gracing her with an even bigger smile than before. "My dear _Jacqueline_, _you_ are a witch."

"I'm a _what_?!" said Jackie, dumbfounded.

"A witch," said Dumbledore simply, obviously anticipating her reaction. "_And_you, my dear, have been accepted to—in my opinion—the best wizarding school _ever_, or at least in England, or, well, it's in Scotland, really, but that's not strictly the point here: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—I preside as Headmaster there," he added gently.

"But- but…that's _impossible_…there's- there's no such thing as magic," said Jackie, trying desperately to process this strange new information. "And even if there really _was_ such a thing as magic, why would _I_ be going to school in _England_ and not the States?" Jackie was starting to feel a bit lightheaded now.

"Why don't you sit down, Jack? You don't look too well," said Tracy worriedly. Jackie did as she was told, never taking her eyes off of her "uncle." "It is all true, Jackie," said Tracey softly. "You were born in London, and when your mother died Professor Dumbledore sent you to us. We really _did_ intend to tell you all of this sooner, but your father and I wanted to wait until you were old enough to understand. But when that time came, we didn't know _how_ to tell you so you would believe us."

"I- I'm adopted?!" said Jackie, her world starting to spin in front of her eyes.

"Not exactly…although the Taylors have raised you as their own, you were never officially _or_legally adopted...this is more like a…foster situation," Dumbledore explained, looking concernedly at Jackie.

Jackie looked up abruptly at this new piece of information. "What do you _mean_ this is a 'foster situation?' And for that matter, am I even _legally_ allowed to be here—in the States, that is?"

Dumbledore smiled softly down at his great-niece. "While the Taylors have raised you as their own and taken you into their home and their hearts, they aren't _truly_ your legal guardians. Your _true_ legal guardian was unable to take you in at the time of your mother's death, so I temporarily took over all of your legal care, making sure to find a safe and suitable family to take you in. As to you being allowed to be here in the United States…well, that's really a matter of whom you ask. If you ask _our_ government—that is, the American Magical Congress and the British Ministry of Magic—yes, you are _fully_ within the law to reside here. However, if you ask either _muggle_ government, the answer would be no—"

"What's a _muggle_?" Shawn, who had been momentarily forgotten, asked curiously.

"Nonmagical folk," replied Dumbledore, his eyes never leaving the curly-haired tomboy in front of him.

Jackie's mind was reeling with all this new information. Finally she looked up and stared Dumbledore straight in the eyes, steely grey meeting clear blue. "I can't believe all of this!" Jackie finally said, feeling more than a bit lost. "First you tell me I'm a witch, then you tell me that I don't even have 'real' parents, and now I find out that I'm an _illegal alien_ to boot?! What's next?! I'm really the only heir to a small, little-know European country?!"

"Of course not, my dear," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Though I have heard rumors of a book being written about something similar to that…but I've strayed off topic now, haven't I?" Jackie stared at Dumbledore, mouth agape; this was indeed the _single_strangest man she had ever met. His eyes twinkling at Jackie's bemused expression, Dumbledore continued. "My dear Jacqueline, haven't you ever done something that couldn't be explained? Something out of the ordinary, particularly when you are upset or angry?"

Jackie shrugged. "Weird things always happen around me, but that doesn't mean that _I_ caused them…" a thought suddenly occurred to her and she glared up at the silver-haired professor. "Did Joey put y'all up to this?"

"Joey doesn't know anything about this, Jackie," Ian said.

Dumbledore looked seriously at Jackie. "You asked me what happens next, my dear," he said slowly. "Before I tell you, though, you must promise me that you won't run off until you hear me out."

"I won't," Jackie responded automatically.

"Do you promise?" asked Dumbledore, his piercing gaze seeming to see into her very soul.

Jackie gulped, suddenly nervous. "I promise."

"Very well," said Dumbledore, nodding his head slightly, apparently contented with Jackie's response. "I am to take you back with me in the morning, my dear," he began cautiously.

"_What?!?_" Jackie exclaimed, jumping up so quickly that she got dizzy and had to brace herself against the wall to prevent herself from blacking out.

Dumbledore fluidly pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. "We usually send these by owl, but I wanted to bring you home myself."

"By ow—" began Jackie. She stopped suddenly and looked up sharply at her great-uncle. "Wait, what do you mean, 'home?'"

"To England, of course," said Dumbledore simply.

Jackie couldn't say anything. Even though she was starting to believe that this strange old man was telling her the truth, she was still having a hard time believing that he _actually_expected her to go to all the way to England with him with less than a full day's notice. "I-I need to sit down now," said Jackie, faintly as she slid down the wall to the floor. She barely registered the fact that Dumbledore had handed her the strange envelope he had pulled out of his robes.

"You are welcome to open your letter anytime you please, _Jacqueline_dear," said Dumbledore kindly.

Jackie started, staring at the aforementioned envelope she held clutched in her white-knuckled fists. Despite her reservations, she opened the envelope to find her acceptance letter inside:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL**

_of_** WITCHCRAFT **_and_ **WIZARDRY**

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(_Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards_)

Dear Miss Black,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

**_Minerva McGonagall_**

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

Jackie was still so surprised that all of this was _actually_happening to her that it didn't even register that it wasn't her name at the top of the letter.

Shaking slightly, she silently handed the parchment to her parents. Scanning the letter together, Tracey gave a sigh and a certain light seemed to dim in Ian's eyes. "I thought we still had a few more years with her," Tracy said, obviously heartbroken.

"Our students begin their education the September after they turn eleven, which happened last fall for _Jacqueline_," Dumbledore explained kindly.

"Why do I have to leave so soon? The letter said school doesn't start until September and it's only June 13th!" Jackie said softly as she fought back tears.

Dumbledore turned to the black-haired girl, his eyes full of sympathy. "You, my dear, will be one of only _two_ students coming from America. I feel it best to give you the chance to get used to the change in time zones and cultures before school starts and you are immersed into a strange new world."

"But...what about all of my friends?" protested Jackie, scared at the prospect of going to a whole other country, even if it _was_ England, and, though she wouldn't admit it, in her head she added, _So what if there's only like _two_ of them besides Joe!_ "What about the rest of my family? I don't have any time to tell them all I'm leaving!"

"We'll let everyone know that you have left _for_ you—" Ian started.

"It would be best if you didn't tell anyone that _Jacqueline_is a witch. You know what the consequences would be if she was found out too soon—" Dumbledore whispered loudly to Tracy and Ian.

"What do you mean 'consequences?'" Jackie asked curiously, not missing a thing.

"Now is not the best time for that conversation, my dear," said Dumbledore, brushing her question off. "I will, however, explain everything to you once you are at Hogwarts; that is, _if_you will let her go with me," Dumbledore turned and addressed this last part at Jackie's "parents."

"We knew this day was coming, Professor. Of course she can go; it's where she belongs," Tracy said as a tear rolled down her cheek. Turning to her daughter, she added, "Why don't you go pack your bags now, Jack, so you don't forget anything in the morning."

"Can I at least call Joey?" pleaded Jackie. "He'll hate me forever if I don't tell him."

"Joey's not home, sweetie," Ian gently reminded Jackie. "He went to Chicago for the week, remember?"

Without another word, Jackie got up (slowly this time) and headed up to her room. _I don't know what's worse, _she thought to herself as she headed up the stairs, _leaving my family or leaving without getting to say good-bye to Joey._

XXXXXXXX

Rifling around in the mess that was her closet, Jackie eventually found a duffel bag and started to stuff it full of all of her necessities, all of her favorite things, and whatever money she could find in her room. It was hard for her to decide what to bring and what to just leave since she didn't know when she would be coming home again—or if she ever would, for that matter.

About a half an hour later, Tracy came upstairs to make sure that her baby girl was okay. Jackie, wanting to be brave for everyone else, quickly wiped the tears off of her face before her mother could see them. "Are you going to be okay?" asked Tracey softly as she sat down on the bed beside her only daughter.

"I don't know..." said Jackie, her voice sounding shakier than she would have liked.

They sat in silence for a moment before Tracy finally spoke again. "I got you something, Jack. I've been saving it for something special, and I think now pretty much meets that qualification."

Looking expectantly at her mother, Jackie was handed a small box. Slowly opening up the box, Jackie found a silver necklace with a music note charm inside. Smiling and hugging Tracey, Jackie put the necklace on right away and the two of them had one of those sappy mother-daughter moments. They both promised to write often and Jackie promised she'd come home to visit as soon as possible.

"And Mum?" said Jackie, slowly pulling out of her mother's embrace, "I know Professor Dumbledore said not to tell anyone, but could you _please_ tell Joey? I mean, he's like a brother to me and he's been there for most of the weird stuff; I know he wouldn't tell anybody if we told him not to."

Tracey sighed. "We'll see, Jack. As soon as your uncle says that it's safe, I promise, he'll be the first to know."

Jackie wasn't fully satisfied with that answer, but she figured it was better than nothing, so she decided to let it go for the time being. Jackie gave a sigh and decided to vent a bit. "I just can't believe of _all_ the weeks for him and his family to leave on vacation, they had to pick _this_ week! It's going to be _so_ weird over there without him; we've been in the same class ever since _kindergarten_!"

"I know, sweetheart, I know," said Tracey, pulling Jackie close and kissing her softly on her head. "This is going to be hard on all of us, you know." Jackie contemplated this. She was going to miss her family and Joey like nothing else, but it hadn't really occurred to her before now that the feeling would be equally reciprocated by her loved ones.

After a bit, Jackie's thoughts began to wander. "Did you know my birth parents?" she asked suddenly.

Tracey started, looking down at her daughter as if for the first time. "No, I've only ever met your uncle," she responded once she had processed the question. "All I really know is that your birth mom passed away not long before you were brought here, to us."

"When did you meet my uncle?" asked Jackie curiously.

Tracey sighed and began to stroke Jackie's unruly curls. "Professor Dumbledore came to visit your father and me shortly before you were brought here by an acquaintance of Dumbledore's. Apparently he—your uncle, that is—found out about us and our unsuccessful attempts to have a second child through friends of ours who came from England. He explained your situation to us and asked if we would be willing to take care of you if something were to happen to your parents; naturally we agreed." Jackie halfheartedly smiled and hugged her mom. "Don't worry sweetie, everything will be fine," whispered Tracey, softly kissing her daughter on top of her head before standing up and heading to the door.

_I hope she's right_, Jackie thought to herself as she watched Tracy walk out of her room, possibly for the last time.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, Dumbledore woke everyone up early so that Jackie could say goodbye to the family she had been living with for as long as she could remember. As Jackie said her goodbyes to each of them in turn, Tracy cried, Ian fought back tears, and Shawn even hugged his sister—a _true_ rarity. Jackie was able to hold back her own tears, but only just barely.

"Are you ready?" Dumbledore said gently as Jackie pulled out of her mother's embrace.

"I think so..." Jackie sniffled as she stood a little straighter.

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Then we must be off, my dear. We need to be out of sight before the sun rises," he said as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"I'll write as soon as I can," she said sadly to her family as her great-uncle guided her to the door.

"Be careful, Jack," Shawn said as he ruffled her curly hair one last time. "You won't have me and Izzy to get you out of trouble over there—"

"Yeah, but I won't have Joey to get me _into_ trouble either," she said with a strained laugh; they all knew very well that it was, in fact, _Jackie_ and not Joey who got them into trouble all the time.

With one last wave to her foster family (and much crying on Tracey's part), Dumbledore led his niece out of the house and into the woods (hehe!). When they finally stopped, Jackie was struck with the realization that they were in about the same place that she had seen the odd movement the night before. Looking up, Jackie beheld a beast that would have been perfect for a movie monster, yet strangely enough it didn't scare her at all. This strange creature was large and black and looked like a cross between a skeletal, winged horse and a lizard.

"What is _that_?" Jackie asked as she circled the creature warily.

"It's a winged horse, and our ride. This particular breed is a thestral—don't worry, he's perfectly harmless _Jacqueline_," Dumbledore said as he watched the curly haired girl study the horse intently, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"I've seen something like this before...a long time ago..." she said softly to herself, her forehead creasing even further as she tried desperately, without success, to bring up some long-forgotten memory.

"Is that so?" said Dumbledore, his eyes never losing their odd twinkle. "Well my dear, we had better get going or we'll never make it to London on time. Do you know how to ride a horse?"

"Yeah. I took lessons when I was younger," replied Jackie distractedly.

"Excellent!" said Dumbledore, clapping his hands. "In that case, I will ride behind you—that way, if you fall asleep I can still keep a hold of you. Up you go, my dear!" he said as he helped her climb on. "Hold onto the reins—that's it—and I'll hold onto you around your waist."

Jackie took one last wistful look at her home through the thick woods and did as she as she was told. A strange knot in her stomach—call it a hunch, call it intuition, call it whatever the hell you want—told her that she wouldn't be back here for a _very_long time. She was so engrossed in her wistful ruminations that she barely noticed when Dumbledore spoke and told the horse to go to Diagon Alley in London. As they took off, Jackie continued to watch her Wisconsin home until it became a speck much too small to see.

XXXXXXXX

Jackie wasn't sure when exactly she had fallen asleep, but when she woke up and looked down all she could see was water, water, and…gee, look at that, more water. She gave a little yelp of surprise and almost fell off the thestral. Luckily her uncle was expecting her reaction and he tightened his hold on her so that she wouldn't. "Where are we?" Jackie yelled over the wind.

"About fifteen minutes from England's shore, my dear. You won't be able to see it yet, though; it's too foggy," Dumbledore yelled back.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later Jackie noticed that the ocean had turned into land below them. She prepared herself for the landing by shutting her eyes tight. After a few minutes, she cracked one of her eyes open to see what was going on. To her surprise, instead of landing, they continued flying. _Okay, how can he_ possibly_ be able to stay awake?! _Jackie thought quizzically. _He's flown to America and back with only like _five hours_ of sleep in between! We must not be stopping until we get to London..._Then she just sighed and settled in for the remainder of their journey.

Eventually Jackie and her uncle did land, though when they did it was in the middle of nowhere. As soon as Dumbledore slid off the creature, he turned around and helped his niece down. Jackie looked around, trying to get her bearings, but she could only see a few feet in front of her because of all the fog. "Okay, now where are we?" she asked curiously, knowing for a fact that they were _not_ standing in London.

"We're nearly there, my dear," responded Dumbledore, "but we can't take the thestral into the city with us, so we're going on foot from here."

"Oh joy," Jackie said sarcastically.

Dumbledore chuckled at that. "Don't worry, my dear girl, it's not very far; on a clear day you can actually see London from here. We will stop to eat once we get there."

"How did you know I was hungry?" asked Jackie, surprised at her uncle's intuition.

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled merrily. "Because, my dear _Jacqueline_, I am myself quite hungry too."

XXXXXXXX

Dumbledore and Jackie didn't talk too much more after their brief conversation, mostly because Jackie was still in the process of waking up. It wasn't until they had entered the city that Jackie finally spoke up again. "Uh, Un—I mean—Prof—I mean…Wait, what do you want me to call you?" she asked curiously.

"You may call me Uncle Albus, if you wish, my dear."

"Okay, Uncle Albus it is then. Um, you _do_ realize that people are staring at us, right?" said Jackie, looking around, feeling uncomfortable of all the strangers gaping at her and her uncle.

"Are they?" he said mildly, seemingly not noticing the people doing double takes at his choice of clothing.

"Yeah, they are. Where are we heading again?" Jackie asked as she looked shyly away from the passers by.

"Diagon Alley," responded Uncle Albus, "but we have to go through the Leaky Cauldron first."

"And I'm just going to assume that those are wizard-type places," said Jackie, at a loss at the names of these strange places.

"That is correct, my dear. The Leaky Cauldron is a famous pub in our world—I have arranged for you to stay in one of the rooms there for the rest of the summer, in fact." Jackie looked as if she was about to protest when her uncle stopped suddenly. "Ah, and here we are!" he exclaimed. As she looked around, it seemed to Jackie that no one else could see the dingy, run-down pub, which by that time didn't exactly surprise her.

Once inside (and finding the inside just as disappointing as the outside), her uncle promptly took her over to the counter. "Well, who do we have here today, Professor?" the bartender said as he cleaned a glass.

"Tom, this is my great-niece, _Jacqueline Taylor_. _Jacqueline_, this is Old Tom, proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron."

"Good Lord...is that really your—" Old Tom started.

"I would like to show her to her room now," Dumbledore said firmly, changing the subject.

"Of course, of course. Room thirteen," Tom said quickly as he searched for the key. "Ah, here it is! Follow me, please."

Old Tom led Jackie and Dumbledore up the stairs and down a long hall to the room marked with a bronze thirteen. When Tom opened the door, Jackie gasped; she could hardly believe that the room was just for her. It was _huge_—at least compared to her room back in the States; the bed alone looked big enough to fit at _least_ four people. "Is all of this really for _me_?" she asked in awe.

"It's really all for you, my dear," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "Now, if you don't mind, Tom, would you please prepare us some breakfast? It's been a long trip."

"Of course, professor. I'll send someone up as soon as it's ready," said Tom as he left.

When the door closed again, Jackie turned to her uncle. "Uncle Albus, why was Tom so surprised when you introduced me?" she asked curiously.

"It has to do with something that happened a long time ago, my dear _Jacqueline_. Do you like your room?" Jackie only half-noticed how quickly her uncle had changed the subject; she was still too busy taking everything in.

"Yeah, it's great," she said absentmindedly.

"Very good. I'm glad you like it. I have made arrangements so that you can use this room whenever you need to—"

"For how long?" asked Jackie suddenly.

"For at least until you finish your schooling at Hogwarts."

"And how long does it take to finish at…this school?" asked Jackie, having trouble pronouncing the school's name.

"Seven years." Seeing Jackie's look of _complete_and utter despair, Dumbledore chuckled and added, "Don't worry, my dear, the time will fly by, I promise."

XXXXXXXX

Jackie and her great-uncle were both quiet during breakfast, neither one quite sure of what exactly to say to the other. Dumbledore opened his mouth a few times as if he was about to say something, but each time he quickly hid it with a yawn instead. Once they finished eating, he cleared his throat loudly and finally spoke. "We have a lot to do today, my dear," he started.

"What _exactly_ is it that we're doing again?" Jackie interrupted curiously.

"Buying your school things, of course, my dear. Everything that you need for your classes can be found in Diagon Alley. Do you still have the letter I gave you?"

"Yeah, I put it in my back pocket before we left," she said as she took said (slightly creased and crumpled) letter out.

"There is another piece of parchment in there besides the letter you saw yesterday..."

She pulled everything out of the envelope and found the piece of paper he was talking about. It read:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL**

_of_** WITCHCRAFT **_and_ **WIZARDRY**

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: a Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"Wow, I'm actually going to get a _real_ magic wand?!" Jackie asked excitedly once she had finished reading.

"Yes, yes, my dear _Jacqueline_," her uncle said with a chuckle, his eyes twinkling merrily at her excitement. "All wizards—_and_witches—need a wand to do magic, at least at first. There are some who can do wandless magic, but it's quite rare and requires an immense amount of power and energy."

"You know, it's funny," said Jackie, suddenly. "When me'n Joey—my best friend—were little, we used to pretend that sticks we found in the yard were really magic wands. I used to _love_ pretending that I could do magic. Who could have guessed it was actually _real_!"

"It seems like you are very close to this Joey," said Dumbledore mildly.

"I am," replied Jackie without hesitation. "We've been best friends for as long as anybody can remember _and_ we do almost everything together. His mum died when he was just a baby, and I was never really able to fit in with the other kids, so we looked out for each other. He was over at our house so often that my pa- I mean, my _foster_ parents considered him another son... him and his brother, Izzy, actually."

Dumbledore smiled, knowing that he had finally found a subject that his niece would talk freely about. Nevertheless, he had to change it. "As much as I would love to hear more about this Joey, we need to get started on that list, my dear. First off, we have to go to Gringotts—"

"What's Gringotts?" asked Jackie curiously; everything about this strange new world was fascinating to her.

"It's the wizard bank," replied her uncle simply. "I should warn you, though, it _is_ run by goblins."

"Goblins?" she asked, not really believing that goblins were real. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, no, I'm not 'kidding' you," he said with a laugh (and yes, he did the air quotes). "They are _very_ proud creatures my dear, so it would be _extremely_ wise to keep any thoughts you may have about them to yourself. I will give you some money from my own vault for you to spend this year. You have your own vault, of course, but it is currently unavailable, as there are some ah, _legal issues_, that still need to be worked out."

XXXXXXXX

Jackie and Dumbledore left the Leaky Cauldron through a door that seemed to be the back way out—or at least it seemed like it to Jackie. The door led into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trashcan and a few weeds. "Uh, Uncle Albus...I don't think we can get out this way," Jackie said as she studied the walls, trying to find a hidden door.

"Not everything is as it seems in our world," Dumbledore said with a conspiratorial wink. Uncle Albus (Dumbledore) pulled out his wand with a flourish and tapped a number of bricks in the wall in front of them with it. The last brick he tapped began to wiggle and a small hole appeared in the middle of the wall. Jackie let out an audible gasp as the hole grew larger and larger. Mere seconds after her uncle had tapped the wall Jackie was standing in front of a large archway to a long alley that twisted on out of sight. "Welcome to Diagon Alley!" he said with a grin.

"Whoa, that was _so_ cool!" she said, obviously in awe.

"I'm glad you think so my dear," said Dumbledore happily while walking through the arch. "Stay close by me; it's quite easy to get lost here on your first visit."

Jackie closely followed her uncle into the alley. _Why does it sound like he's speaking from experience?_ Jackie thought curiously as they walked through the wall and into the alley.

XXXXXXXX

Following her uncle down the alley, Jackie glanced behind her to see—much to her surprise—that the archway was disappearing back into a brick wall. She didn't look back for long, however, for she was soon taken aback by all of the wonderful things there were to see. People of all ages—the majority dressed in the same strange types of robes as her uncle—wandered past shop upon shop of fascinating wizarding goods. Jackie did her best to take everything in all at once, yet she somehow failed to notice that just about everyone there recognized her uncle. As soon she and Dumbledore passed Quality Quidditch Supplies, Jackie stopped dead in her tracks and backtracked to look at the broom in the window. Before she could actually figure out what she was looking at, Dumbledore pulled her away. "There will be plenty of time to look at racing brooms later," he said with a merry chuckle.

Jackie's eyes flew wide open. "You mean people really _fly_ on broomsticks? Like in fairy tales and other stories?"

"Of course, my dear!" he said as he put an arm around his niece. "See that big, white building ahead?"

"Yeah..."

"That's Gringotts, though to get to the vaults we have to go far underground—they're even further down than the London Underground—"

"What's that?"

"I forgot that you've haven't lived here in many years. It's the train that runs underground—"

"Like a subway?"

"_Exactly_ like a subway. I actually have a scar above my left knee that is a perfect map of it..."

"The Subway?"

"The Underground."

"You're joking!"

"I'm serious, my dear, though that's not actually my name…It's quite useful, actually—the scar, not the name."

"I haven't been lucky enough to have a scar like that," Jackie said wistfully (well, she _was_ a tomboy) as she showed her uncle the collection of scars she had on her arms. "This is my favorite one," she told him, holding up her left hand for him to see.

"And what is it from? It looks fairly new," he asked curiously.

"It is. A few days before Joey left for Chicago, he talked me into doing the blood-brother thing—you know, where two people cut their hands and hold them together so they become related—"

"Ah. I do believe I have heard of some students doing that..."

"It killed, but it was worth it. Now, no matter where we are, I'll always have a bit of Joey with me and he'll have a bit of me with him. Though I thought Mum and Dad were going to _kill_ us when they found out..."

They both fell into thought; Jackie remembering some of the things she and Joey had done when they were little and Dumbledore imagining what his niece would be like at Hogwarts. They were therefore both a little surprised when they found that they had reached Gringotts. Jackie let out an audible gasp: In front of the big, bronze doors that led into the bank, stood what Jackie assumed was a goblin…and it was dressed in a scarlet and gold uniform. "Is that a—" she started.

"Yes, that is a goblin. Try not to stare too much," her uncle said softly.

The pair walked up the white stone steps and the goblin bowed them inside. They walked into a small room that had a second pair of doors, though they were silver this time. There was an inscription on them, which Jackie leaned in closer to read:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"Wise words to remember, my dear," Dumbledore said kindly, noticing Jackie's attention was fixated on the inscription.

"So they're _serious_?"

"Completely."

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors as well. Jackie let out another audible gasp when she saw the inside. They were standing in a vast marble hall where, at the very least, a hundred goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter. They were scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses ("Oooooh shiny!"). There were more doors than Jackie could count leading off the hall, and even more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Dumbledore had to lead his niece to the counter; she had stopped dead in her tracks to take everything in.

"Good morning, Professor," said the goblin that they had walked up to. "What can we do for you today, sir?"

"Good morning to you too, Grisling. I would like to take some money out of my vault for my niece here."

"I will have someone take you down to your vault right away, sir. Grabnook!"

XXXXXXXX

Grabnook was, of course, another goblin. He led Jackie and Dumbledore through one of the doors that led off of the main hall. Jackie was slightly disappointed when she saw what was on the other side of the door. She hadn't really expected more marble, but she at least thought that it would be something better than the narrow stone passageway lit by torches that she _did_ see.

Jackie kept silent as they headed down the sloping path. At the end were some train tracks on the ground. Grabnook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. All three climbed in—Dumbledore let his niece climb in before him ("Ladies first.")—and the cart took off.

They pretty much flew through a maze of twisting passages. Jackie didn't even bother trying to keep track of which turns they took—mostly because she was caught off guard by the speed and she had her eyes half-shut. After a few moments, she was able to keep her eyes opened, but realized something slightly worrying; Grabnook wasn't steering the cart. _It must be charmed,_ she told herself. _Yeah, that's it, it's charmed, so it knows where we're going...I hope!_ Jackie thought that she saw a blast of fire, but when she turned to see what made it, it was too late. She looked at her uncle for an explanation, but he hadn't seen the flames. At one point—after they had plunged deeper into the earth than Jackie had _ever_ thought possible—they passed an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. "Whoa, cool!" she said softly, earning her another grin from her uncle.

The cart carried them even deeper underground for a few minutes. When it finally stopped, they all climbed out of the cart. In front of them stood a small door without a keyhole or any other way to get inside. Jackie opened her mouth to ask Dumbledore a question, but he held a finger to his lips to silence her. Grabnook stroked the door with one of his long fingers and it melted away. "Cool!" said Jackie, in awe.

"Thank you, Grabnook," said Dumbledore. "Welcome to my vault, Jackie, my dear."

Inside were stacks upon stacks of gold, silver, and bronze coins, mounds of gems, and other valuables of all sorts. Jackie just stood in the doorway in awe. "Is all of that yours?!" asked Jackie in awe.

"Yes, yes," he said with a laugh. "Actually, it's the family vault, but basically it's all mine—"

"Did my parents have a vault here?"

"Yes, they did. You should be able to use theirs' next year—like I said earlier, we're still working out some legal issues at the moment, which is why you're using my vault for now. So, what did you think of the cart ride down here?"

"Fun. Kinda like a roller coaster. Except for the hills; those definitely _weren't_ fun—I _hate_ big hills!"

Dumbledore just laughed as he filled up a purse with coins. Jackie picked up one of the gold ones and kept turning it around in her hand, trying to study every little detail. "That is a Galleon," said Dumbledore, pointing to the coin in her hand. "It's worth the most. Next comes one of these silver ones, called Sickles." He handed her a Sickle and a bronze coin. "Seventeen Sickles makes a Galleon. The bronze coin is a Knut, twenty-nine of those makes a Sickle. And, in case you were wondering, it's 493 Knuts to a Galleon. Understand?"

"Yeah, twenty-nine bronze Knuts makes a silver Sickle and seventeen of those makes a gold Galleon. And there is _no_way in Hell I'll ever remember how many Knuts there are in a Galleon so I won't even try."

Dumbledore chuckled softly. "That's quite alright, my dear. You did a very good job on the other conversions, though. Well, I do believe this should be _more_ than plenty to last you the year. Now, we had best get started on that list of yours."

XXXXXXXX

Before Jackie knew it she was back outside of Gringotts with her Uncle Albus, blinking in the sunlight. "So, what are we going to get first?" she asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Let's start at the top of your list...Ah, your uniform. This shouldn't take very long at all."

Dumbledore led Jackie down the alley and into a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. There were only a few people inside, mostly looking at the colorful robes on the racks. A squat, smiling witch, who was wearing forest green robes came up to Jackie and Dumbledore. "Albus! It's been quite a while since we've seen you here," she greeted cheerily.

"Hello, Madam. This is my niece, _Jacqueline Taylor_," he said. Jackie couldn't help but notice that he put a bit of extra stress on her name, but she didn't say anything. "She will be starting at Hogwarts this fall and she needs to get her uniform."

"Well, then, you've come to the right place. We've got the lot here. Follow me please, Miss Taylor."

The witch, who Jackie assumed was Madam Malkin, led her to the back of the shop. She handed Jackie her uniform to change into so that it could be tailored to fit her perfectly. Jackie looked down in horror—the girls' uniform included a skirt. "What's this tubey thingie?" she asked quizzically, holding the aforementioned article up.

"It's a skirt, my dear," Dumbledore said, somehow knowing that the girl wasn't joking. "It's like the bottom portion of a dress."

"But where are the pants?" she asked, thoroughly confused at the concept (she was a true tomboy; no one would ever accuse her of being anything but).

"Skirts are worn by girls in place of pants," he said, suppressing a chuckle. By now, they were receiving many strange stares from the other shoppers and Madam Malkin.

"I don't do non-pants tubey thingies," she told her uncle firmly.

"I'm sorry, but it's the uniform—"

"I won't wear it, Uncle Albus. Period. The end. End of subject. No _frickin'_ way."

"But you have to; all of the other girls do—"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm _not_ like other girls. Besides, I wouldn't jump off a bridge if everyone else did—well, I might, but that's beside the point..."

"You have to wear a skirt if you want to go to Hogwarts," cajoled Uncle Albus.

"Then take me back," said Jackie stubbornly. "I'd be more than happy to go home."

"Now, _Jacqueline_..." said Dumbledore wearily.

"I'm serious Uncle Albus: _I_ _don't wear tubey thingies_. And if you're going to _make_ me, then I'll go home."

"Fine," he finally said once he realized that she wasn't going to change her mind. "You can wear the pants from the boys' uniform, but at least get _one_ skirt—in case you change your mind."

"Fine," she sighed. "But you should know that I _rarely_, if _ever_, change my mind about things like this."

Now that she had finally gotten her way, Jackie went through the rest of her fitting without a single complaint. _That was easier than I thought, _she thought. _Joey _was_ right; I _am_ the most stubborn person when it comes to things I want_.

While she was adjusting the robes, Madam Malkin tried to start a conversation with Jackie. "So where are you from, dearie?"

"America...North Car—I mean, Wisconsin to be more specific."

"Gracious, you've had a long trip."

"You can say _that_ again."

"When did you get here?"

"This morning, actually. Uncle Albus came and got me yesterday."

"Well, what do you think?" Madam Malkin asked as she moved aside so Jackie could see how her robes fit.

"The shirt and sweater thingie are a little long, aren't they?" Jackie asked, even though both shirts were the typical length—well, to most people at least; most of Jackie's shirts showed of at least a _little_ bit of her stomach.

"They're the standard length for your uniform," Madam Malkin said indignantly, after checking the hems again.

"Alright..."sighed Jackie.

"_Jacqueline_, you're not going to shorten them yourself, are you?" Dumbledore asked worriedly.

"Of course not, Uncle Albus," she responded in her "innocent" voice, her fingers crossed behind her back. "I promise."

"Alright then, you're all done, Miss Taylor," Madam Malkin interrupted.

XXXXXXXX

Dumbledore took Jackie all around Diagon Alley to get her supplies. In every shop they went into, he made sure to introduce her to the all shopkeepers, making sure that they would recognize her should she come in on her own so that they could keep an eye out for her—or so it seemed to Jackie.

When they passed Quality Quidditch Supplies, Jackie ran up to the window again to check out the racing broom in the window. "Nimbus Two Thousand," Jackie read off of the handle. "Is it a good one?" she asked her uncle curiously.

"It's supposed to be the best broom on the market," Dumbledore said as he joined her. "It just came out recently."

"Cool! Can I get one?" she pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but no. It's against school rules for first years to have broomsticks."

"But you're the headmaster!" she whined. "Can't you bend the rules for me? _Pleeeeease!_"

"I would, my dear _Jacqueline_,but then everyone else in your year would want one and I'd have an awfully big mess on my hands. Besides, do you even _know_ what racing brooms are used for?"

"Well, I'm assuming that no one would ruin something that nice on sweeping the floor, so I'm going to take a wild guess and say…flying?"

This got quite a large laugh out of her uncle. He had to remove his spectacles and wipe his eyes before he responded, "Yes, yes, of course we _fly_on racing brooms, my dear. But more importantly we use them to play Quidditch—it's our sport, a wizarding sport. Would you like me to explain it to you?"

"Well, considering I'll be spending the whole summer here, I can hang out here and get the details from the shopkeepers," Jackie said as she eyed a particularly cute guy working in the Quidditch shop. "But thanks anyway."

XXXXXXXX

After spending a couple more hours buying supplies—and talking to various shopkeepers—Jackie and her uncle got to the item that she was the most excited about (which is why Dumbledore had saved it for last): her wand.

"So where do we get it?" Jackie asked excitedly, bouncing restlessly on the balls of her feet.

"Ollivanders; most people claim that it is the _best_ place to buy a wand. I myself bought my first wand there many, many years ago."

"Really?" asked Jackie in awe.

Dumbledore nodded, smiling. "As did your mother," he told her fondly.

Just as Jackie was going to ask her uncle about her birth mum, she noticed Ollivanders. It was a narrow and shabby building; pealing gold letters above the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. _Wow, this place is _really_ old!_ Jackie thought. Before they went in, she stopped at the dusty window to look at a wand that was on a faded purple cushion. Something about it fascinated her, and, yet again, her uncle had to practically drag her into the shop.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the back of the shop. Even though it was tiny, Jackie thought that it was the best shop they had been to all day. The only thing in the main area was a single, spindly chair. Behind the counter and along the walls were thousands upon thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly all the way up to the ceiling. As Jackie got closer to these, an odd sensation ran through her, as if some kind of magic was coming out of the boxes and making its way through her.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice, causing both Jackie to jump.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," Dumbledore said politely.

"Albus! Albus Dumbledore! So nice to see you again after all these years. And is this must be young C—" Mr. Ollivander started.

"This is my great-niece, _Jacqueline Taylor_," interrupted Dumbledore, his voice firm. Jackie—of course—noticed that her uncle had stopped Mr. Ollivander from saying another name and had put special emphasis on hers. She made a mental note to ask him about this later, once they got back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ah, yes. Yes, yes. I was hoping I'd be seeing soon, _Jacqueline Taylor_. You look just like your un—" (Dumbledore cleared his throat, and Mr. Ollivander _quite_ obviously changed what he had been about to say) "—der a lot of stress right now…"

"Huh?"

Mr. Ollivander simply changed the subject. "Well, let's see which wand favors you—"

"Huh? How can a wand _favor_ anyone? It's just a piece of wood, isn't it?" Jackie blurted out without thinking. Turning a lovely shade of lobster red, she stuttered, "I-I mean—"

"Quite alright, Miss Taylor. A wand chooses the wizard—or witch—instead of the other way around," he said as he studied her. "And a wand is _far_ more than a mere piece of wood, Miss Taylor."

Jackie was still confused, but she decided not to say anything; she was kind of freaked out by Mr. Ollivander's wide, pale, moon-like eyes that were fixed on her. _He _really_ needs to blink or something already!_ she thought.

"Well, now, Miss Taylor…let me see..." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Um... I'm right-handed if that's what you mean."

"Hold out your arm, then. That's it." He measured her from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round her head. As he measured he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss Taylor. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's—or witch's—wand."

As she listened to Mr. Ollivander, Jackie noticed that the tape measure was measuring her all on its own. It even measured between her nostrils, how far apart her eyebrows were, and other weird things like that. While all that was happening, the shopkeeper was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes. "That will do," he said and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Miss Taylor. Try this one. Holly and phoenix feather, unusual combination. Eleven inches, nice and supple. Just take it and give it a wave."

Jackie took the wand and waved it around a bit. She was shocked when a blast of air rushed out of it (and right in Mr. Ollivander's face). She was about to apologize when he snatched it out of her hand.

"Beachwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Try—" Jackie tried—but she had hardly moved when Mr. Ollivander snatched it, too, from her hand.

"No, no—here, mahogany and unicorn hair, fifteen inches, quite whippy. Go on, try it out." Again, the wand was almost instantly snatched out of her hand.

"Ebony and phoenix feather—another unusual combination—twelve inches, nice and springy. Try it."

Jackie tried…and tried; she tried for at least an hour more. Mr. Ollivander wasn't giving any hints as to _what_ exactly he was waiting for. She even looked back at her uncle to see if _he'd_let her in on what was going on, but he wasn't any help either; he simply nodded toward the shopkeeper with a smile. The pile of "tried" wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match for you here somewhere—I wonder, now—yes, why not—" he said as he headed toward the window display. He took the wand from the cushion and came back over to Jackie. "Extremely unique—reed and phoenix feather, thirteen inches, _very_ powerful."

Jackie took the wand. Warmth spread from her hand through the rest of her body. When she gracefully waved the wand in front of her, a bright light came out of it, accompanied by red and gold sparks and a wind that wrapped itself around her. Dumbledore laughed—with his eyes twinkling more than ever—and applauded and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh very good. Well, well, well...I should have known."

"Known what? Is there something wrong?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, no, not at all. It's just that the phoenix whose feather resides in your wand has…close ties to you personally, Miss Taylor. That's all I'll say about that for now—your uncle will tell you the rest of _that_ particular story later." Jackie waited silently for Mr. O to say more about the phoenix, but he never did.

"I remember the day I made that wand," Mr. Ollivander continued. "It was the very first one I ever made; it's truly one-of-a-kind and it's one of the few reed wands I have ever made—reed is a particularly finicky wood, you see; doesn't like to be still, reed."

Mr. Ollivander rang up all of their items—Dumbledore insisted on getting Jackie everything she could need to care for her wand while they were there—and Dumbledore paid for everything. Being a tad bit claustrophobic, Jackie had to go outside quickly to get some fresh air while her Uncle Albus finished up inside the shop—she had been inside that stuffy box just a _tad_ too long. Besides that, she needed some alone time to process the uniqueness of her new wand.

XXXXXXXX

Now that they had finished all of her shopping, Dumbledore treated Jackie to some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, making sure to introduce her to Florean himself. While Jackie was enjoying her ice cream (which happened to be dark chocolate with chocolate mint chunks), she finally brought up the question that had been bothering her all day.

"Uncle Albus," she said, "all day I've noticed that you've been emphasizing my name whenever you introduce me to people—I'm assuming that means that Jacqueline Taylor isn't my real name?" Dumbledore nodded slightly in conformation. "Then what was my name before you sent me to the States?" she asked.

"Cassiopeia Black," replied Uncle Albus, "but we just called you Cassi or Cass."

"_Cassiopeia_? You're frickin' kidding me, right?"

"No, no, I'm not 'frickin'' kidding' you," said Dumbledore, using air quotes. "Cassiopeia is your real name, my dear girl. Your mother was greatly intrigued by Greek mythology and Astronomy—it was a passion of hers, you see. She named you after the constellation Cassiopeia, which in turn was named after Queen Cassiopeia of Phoenician realm of Ethiopia—I shall tell you the whole story some other day, as I have to refresh myself on the story first."

"Okay, _Cassiopeia_...I guess it's not _too_ bad. I mean, sure it's out there—_way_ out there—but it almost sounds… _royal_…or something…Which I guess would make sense if she was a queen."

"It would be for the best for you to keep the name Tracy and Ian gave you for now—" Dumbledore warned her.

"That's another thing I wanted to ask you," said Jackie. "What are these 'consequences' that you mentioned to my mum and dad?"

"I would rather discuss _that_particular subject in the privacy of my office," Uncle Albus said sternly. When he saw that Jackie was disappointed that he wasn't giving her any real information, he added, "It's for your own protection, my dear. Before you ask, I would like to wait to discuss your birth parents until you get to school as well. You have dealt _exceedingly _well with everything I have told you thus far, but I do not want to overwhelm you right now, my dear Jacqueline—especially not with everything in our world being so new for you. Everything will be revealed to you in due time, I promise."

XXXXXXXX

Once they had finished eating their ice cream, Dumbledore sent Jackie ahead of him to her room at the Leaky Cauldron so that he could finish some "last minute business" before he joined her. Jackie wandered around her room looking through her packages—which her uncle had sent there as soon as he paid for them—and playing with a few of the more…unusual…objects. As soon as she found the box with her wand in it, she just _had_ to take it out. Everything about it felt perfect to her—it almost seemed as if it were an extension of her hand.

When he finally came back, Dumbledore found Jackie sitting on the window seat in her room, twirling her wand in her hand like a drumstick. Not wanting to scare her, he cleared his throat to get her attention. As soon as Jackie saw him, her face lit up (it was actually because of what he was _holding_and not the fact that he had come back, but that's beside the point). There in the doorway stood Albus Dumbledore holding—in a cage—the most beautiful pure white baby owl Jackie had ever seen.

"Well, what do you think _Jacqueline_dear?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling, as he held the cage up a bit higher.

"She's wonderful!" Jackie said, half gasping. She hopped off of the window seat and came over to get a better look at the bird. "Who does she belong to?" she asked, absently stroking the bird.

"You, if you want her, that is."

"Of course I want her! Does she have a name yet?" Jackie asked eagerly.

"Not yet," Dumbledore chuckled, amused at his niece's wonderment. "What makes you so sure that it's a 'she'?"

Jackie shrugged. "Gut instinct... am I right?"

"Yes, you're exactly right."

"I think I'll call her Angel," said Jackie softly, stroking the snowy owl. "Only angels have feathers as white as hers. What do you think of that girl?" she asked the bird, who replied with a soft hoot. "I guess that means she likes it! Angel it is then!"

Jackie was on the verge of giddiness as her uncle showed her how to take care of her new pet. She had had a couple of birds when she was younger, so she already knew _most_ of what he was telling her. Though the real shocker for the girl was that wizards used owls to carry letters and packages to one another instead of using a mailman like normal people did. _Muggles,_ she thought to herself. _Non-magical people like my pa- _foster_parents are called muggles._After this particular discovery, Jackie began to ask her uncle question after question about how owls were used, making Dumbledore smile.

"Any more questions?" he asked her, chuckling in amusement, after about twenty minutes.

"I don't think so... at least not about owls. Why?"

"I'm sorry to say that I must take my leave now; I have work to do back at Hogwarts—"

"You're not staying here with me?!?" Jackie interrupted, completely blindsided. "I mean, I assumed that you wouldn't be able to stay the _whole_ summer, but I thought you'd at _least_ be here for a day or two. Until I got used to things here…"

Dumbledore sighed and patted Jackie's curly black head gently. "I'm so sorry, my dear. I thought I had told you already. I would truly _love_ to stay here with you, but I have some very important business I must attend to. But I _am_going to send a man named Hagrid to check on you for me very soon."

"Are you going to come back?" she interrupted once again, on the verge of tears.

"I would certainly like to my dear, but it is doubtful. I am not going to lie to you; we most likely won't see each other again until you come to school on the first of September, but, as I said, I _will_send Hagrid and a few others I trust dearly to make sure that you are doing all right. Not to mention you'll have Tom and other witches and wizards who work here to look out for you. If you need anything—_anything at all_, my dear—send me word with Angel; she'll be able to find me."

Both were silent for a few moments, acutely aware of their imminent separation. Uncle Albus finally gave a sigh of resignation. "Well, I'd best be off, my dear. It has been such a pleasure to see you again, my dear girl. I had nearly forgotten how much I missed you, until today," he said as he gave his niece a great big hug.

"Thank you, Uncle Albus—for everything," replied Jackie, hugging her uncle back just as tightly. Though they had really just a few days ago, Jackie already felt even closer to her new Uncle Albus than she ever had (sadly) to her parents or her bother and Izzy and Uncle Frankie—even Joey, though him to a lesser extent.

Dumbledore gave Jackie a soft kiss on her forehead and headed out of her room—her new home. "Welcome home, Cassiopeia, my dear," he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes as he walked out of Jackie's room and left her all alone, waiting for a man simply called 'Hagrid.'

* * *

Mary Evans couldn't remember ever being in England before. Oh, she knew that she had been born there, but she and her family had moved to America when she was just a year old. She had always hoped that someday she would get a chance to go back. Little did she know that her chance was to come far sooner than she could have hoped.

Mary had always felt that there was something different about her. As much as they tried to hide it, she could tell that her pseudo-parents (her aunt and uncle) and older almost-sisters felt the same. Taylor and Jordan had been Mary's best friends for as long as she could remember, but as the three girls grew older Mary could see her sisters' apprehension towards her grow. Despite all the fun the three girls had getting into trouble, dodging the authorities, barely escaping death, and other such things having to do with causing—and getting into—trouble, with each passing year Mary was surpassing Tay and Jor by leaps and bounds, which was beginning to scare everyone she knew—herself included, sometimes. By the time Mary's eleventh birthday came around, tensions in the Evans' home were about ready to come to a head…

XXXXXXXX

On July 31st, Mary was awoken (far too early for her taste) from a rather deep sleep by two overly perky, blonde blurs.

"Happy birthday, little sis!" Mary slowly blinked her eyes as she drifted in that place between being asleep and awake. She blinked for a few seconds at the twin blonde blurs in front of her, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

After blinking for a few more minutes, she could clearly see her cousin-sisters and the birthday breakfast they had prepared for her. "Thanks Tay, thanks Jor," said Mary half-happily, half-groggily.

"Tuck in, quick!" said Taylor.

"We've got some majorly awesome surprises for you today," said Jordan.

"So get your lazy self out of bed…"

"…so we can get this show on the road."

Mary laughed; for as long as she could remember, Mary had always loved the way her twin cousin-sisters spoke flawlessly together, switching from person to person with no hesitation—it was almost like they shared one mind (already their minds are becoming one).

"Okay," Mary finally said. Then she started eating her chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup and a glass of chocolate milk to wash it down while the twins left her so that she could get dressed.

As soon as Mary was done eating, she did just that. She put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a pine-green, cropped halter-top. She then proceeded to wash up, brush her hair, braid it into two braids, and put on some light makeup. Finally she put on her jewelry, except for her ruby necklace; she _never_ took that off. As soon as she was done, Mary grabbed a pair of brown sandals and headed downstairs.

XXXXXXXX

"Happy birthday, Mary!" The tall redhead was instantly engulfed in her uncle/father's great big bear hug. "I can't believe you're eleven years old already! It seems like just yesterday you were this tiny, little baby…"

"Aw, Uncle Alex! You're just trying to embarrass me!" said Mary, swatting her almost-dad's arm playfully and blushing.

"Who the bloody hell's he going to embarrass you_ to_?" asked Jordan.

"Yeah," added Taylor, "we already know every single bloody embarrassing thing there is to know about you!"

"Girls! Language!" Ana snapped harshly at her twins. Then turning to Mary, she smiled and said, "Sweetie, your uncle is English born and English bred; he does not set out to embarrass _anyone_. The English are too proper for that." Mary laughed at her aunt/mother's comment. "Happy eleventh birthday, sweetheart," she added, enveloping her in a hug.

"Thanks Auntie Ana…" Mary replied, pulling out of her almost-mum's hug. "So…Tay and Jor said that you had a surprise for me today…what is it?"

"Now, if I _told_ you that it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Mary sheepishly muttered "no" as her pseudo-mother continued. "And shame on you, Taylor—you too, Jordan—for almost ruining Mary's birthday surprise!"

The twins looked fake-dejectedly down at the ground. Jordan, as always, began. "Sorry Mum."

"It won't happen again."

Ana rolled her eyes at her rambunctious teen twins. "Alex, will you please take the girls out for the afternoon? I need to finish up a few things for this evening."

"Of course, Ana, darling. Girls, come; let's leave your mother to her element. We will see you later darling." With that, Alex kissed his wife on the cheek and the girls followed him out the door.

XXXXXXXX

"So, where are we going?" asked Mary, bouncing excitedly in her seat.

Jordan leaned up into the front seat of the car and asked, "Dad, may I tell her? Pleeeeeease!"

Alex sighed dramatically, as if it was a huge deal. "Well, I suppose if you must…."

"DAD!" shrieked the twins.

"All right, all right!" laughed Alex, raising his hands in surrender. "Go ahead and tell her, girls."

Jordan then turned the other way—still leaning into the front seat—to face Mary. "You remember how you've wanted a cell phone since, like, before we got ours?" said Jor, an all too familiar mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Yeah," said Mary, on her guard. "So?" Jordan glanced back at her twin sister and a look passed between them. "What?" said Mary suspiciously. "It's nothing _bad_, is it?"

"No, not at all. In fact it's rather _good_, we think." replied Taylor, snickering lightly, her eyes holding the same mischievous glint as her twins'.

"As we were saying," continued Jordan, "you've been complaining about not having a bloody cell phone of your own, so we're taking you to get one."

Mary's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Are you seriously kidding me? I thought Uncle Alex and Auntie Ana thought that I was too young!"

Alex glanced over at Mary and smiled. "Your auntie and I have discussed this issue at length and we have come to the conclusion that you _are_, in fact, old enough to have a cell phone, Lil' Red."

Mary squealed with joy, reaching over to hug her uncle (who, by the way, was still driving the car). "Oh thank you so much, Uncle Alex! This is _so_ awesome! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

XXXXXXXX

Once the Evans family got to the phone store, the purchase went very quickly. The salesclerk gave Mary a brief tutorial, let her pick out any phone she wanted, and before she knew it, Mary had her very own cell phone (red, of course).

After that, Alex and the girls left the phone store and headed to the mall. Once there, Alex gave the girls some money and let the thirteen-year-old twins take Mary around by themselves. Alex—being very un-fond of malls—opted to wait for the girls at the food court.

Tay, Jor, and Mary wandered around the Bellaire Mall just looking into the windows of the stores for a while. "Ooh!" exclaimed Mary happily, spying a particularly cute red halter dress. "Can we go in there?"

The twins looked up at the name of the store and winced simultaneously. "No," they chorused, the tone in their voices leaving no room for argument.

"Why not?" whined Mary.

"Did you see what store that is?" asked Taylor.

"Um…yeah…"

"Ring any bells?" asked Jordan.

"No…"

"Think."

"HARD."

Mary had to sit down and put her head in her hands, she was thinking so hard. "I got nothing…" she said finally.

"Connor?" prompted Tay.

"Connor Mahew?" added Jor.

"After Jeff North?"

"_Before_ Vincent Lyle?"

Suddenly it hit Mary like a ton of bricks. "OOOOHHHH!!"

"You remember?" the twins asked.

"Vaguely…"

"We came to the mall…" prompted Jordan.

"…you were getting annoyed by all the stupid preppy girls…"

"…and a bunch of them were shopping there!" said Mary. "I remember now! And then I decided that it would be TOTALLY wicked if I were to go into the store and…mess with the Barbies' heads!"

"And do you remember what happened next?"

"It was kinda important, ya know."

"Well, I remember that I decided to go into the store and…_commandeer_… the Barbies' clothes while they were in the dressing room so that they couldn't come out…"

"What else…" prompted Taylor.

"...there's more…" added Jordan.

Mary continued thinking. "Well, I remember then that I thought that that wasn't good enough…so I decided to do something pretty drastic…"

"Do you remember what you did?" asked the twins.

"Well n—yes, actually, I do. I was just standing there thinking that I needed to do something far more… drastic…and then…_IT_ happened. When the preppy _Barbies_ came out to show their dresses to each other—for approval, I guess, stupid sheep—they saw that the dresses had been ripped and torn and…basically ruined. Then they all spotted me and decided that it was somehow _my_ fault—they started screeching, 'You little witch! Look what you've done!' and other crap like that. Then when they told the manager, she believed them—figures; she looked like a preppy, plastic _Barbie_ too—and…"

"You remember now?"

"I was…banned…from the store…oh bloody hell…"

"Yeah. So you can see why…" said Jordan.

"…we can't go in there?" said Taylor.

"Yeah. I see," replied Mary. "Dammit."

"Good."

"Let's keep going, then."

"I'd still like to know what the bloody hell happened in there, though," said the twins.

"So would I," replied Mary. "So would I."

XXXXXXXX

Mary and the twins continued making their way through the mall. Chatting amongst themselves, the three girls barely noticed that they were walking past the entertainment store until—

"MARY!"

Mary whirled around to see her boyfriend Tommy running toward her. "Tommy!" she said, surprised.

Panting, Tommy finally caught up to Mary and the twins. "Hey, happy birthday Mary!" he said happily.

"Thanks, Tommy." Mary seemed a bit disinterested and Tay and Jor picked up on this instantly.

"Hey, Red, we're going to have a look see at what's playing in the cinema right now," said Taylor.

"We'll wait for you over there, m'kay?" finished Jordan.

"Yeah, sure," said Mary. With that, the twins took off to look at the movie listings, leaving Mary alone with Tommy—or at least as alone as two people could be in a crowded mall. "Tommy, we need to talk," said Mary flatly.

"Sure," said Tommy, taking Mary's hand and pulling her down to sit on the bench with him. "What's up birthday girl?"

Mary took a deep breath. "Tommy—we're over. Plain and simple. We're done."

"Oh, you're such a kidder," Tommy said, leaning in to kiss Mary.

Mary let him kiss her for a moment, but she quickly pulled away. "I'm _not_ kidding, Tommy. I've never been _more_ bloody serious about anything."

"Uh-huh." Tommy wasn't listening to Mary at all; he was too busy staring adoringly at her to notice.

"TOMMY! PAY ATTENTION!" yelled Mary, jumping up and away from Tommy.

"What! I'm listening!" whined the dark-skinned boy.

"Yeah, right," scoffed Mary, fuming at his lack of respect for her. "I said WE'RE _OVER_. Period. The end. End of story. Finite. Run now or you'll get _SQUASHED_!!"

"I love you Mary. Happy birthday," he said, handing her a bunch of roses, chocolates, and a pretty bracelet, completely oblivious to the fact that she had just totally and completely broken up with him. "I've gotta go; my mom's waiting for me." Still oblivious, Tommy rushed away, leaving Mary fuming.

"What happened?" asked the twins, coming back over as soon as they saw Tommy leave.

"Tommy's a frickin' jerk, that's what. A bloody clueless frickin' jerk."

"Dickhead," supplied Tay.

"Moron," added Jor.

"Creep."

"Arsehole."

"Jerkoff."

"Loser."

"Sleaze."

"Dumbarse."

"Whiney momma's boy," added Mary, finally, before breaking out into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

When Mary could breathe again, the twins decided to finish their interrogation. "So what happened anyway, Red?" the twins persisted.

Mary sighed and rolled her eyes. "I told him that we were over and he didn't here a _single_ _bloody __word_ that I said."

"Sorry, Red."

"Better luck next time."

"There _is_ no next time! _WE'RE OVER_!"

"Just joking, jeez!"

"Tell you what, we'll tell Obsessive Tommy off for you next time he comes round."

"Sound good?"

"Yeah, that'll do," replied Mary, a maniacal grin spreading across her pale features.

XXXXXXXX

Four hours after they began their shopping trip, Mary and the twins—with lots of cool new stuff in tow—finally headed to meet Alex in the food court where they arte a quick lunch before heading back home. On the way, they decided to stop and see a movie, so by the time they actually arrived back at the house it was already time for dinner.

Ana had spent most of the afternoon wrapping presents and baking a birthday cake for Mary's special day. Dinner was no problem: Mary always wanted Pizza Hut pizza—her favorite—for her birthday dinner. After dinner the family had homemade chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (also homemade) and Moose Tracks ice cream. As soon as everyone was done eating, they all went into the living room so that Mary could open her presents.

Mary soon finished opening the presents from her family (she got just about everything she had asked for). "Mary, there are just a few more things for you here," said Ana, handing Mary six envelopes. "These just came in from overseas today."

Mary opened the first envelope. It was a _very_short birthday card from her Aunt Petunia (Alex's younger sister), Uncle Vernon, her cousin Dudley, and Harry Potter. The only things inside the card were a family picture of the Dursleys and a school picture of Harry. Harry Potter wasn't Petunia and Vernon's son; he was the son of Alex's youngest sister Lily and her husband James, who had died about the same time that the Evans had moved to America. Lily and James, Mary knew, were her biological parents, making Harry her biological brother—her _twin_ brother, actually. However, Mary hadn't seen of spoken to Harry since she was one and, therefore, had a difficult time thinking of him as anything more than a cousin-type-person despite the fact that he was actually her brother. Another thing that separated the two (besides the Atlantic Ocean, that is) was the fact that Mary had been Mary _Evans_ for as long as she could remember, separating her even further (in her mind, at least) from Harry _Potter_, her biological twin brother.

The second, much more pleasant, envelope contained a birthday card and a check. It was from Ana's parents (they loved Mary, despite the fact that she was not biologically related to them); Grandma Essie and Grandpa Joseph always sent the girls money for their birthdays.

The third envelope also contained a birthday card and a check; it was from Grandpa Joseph's mother. Great-Grandma Franciszka Wool had lived in her homeland (Poland) ever since her husband (Great-Grandpa Simon) had died and she refused to leave, even though it meant that she lived far away from most of her family (she was a bit old fashioned and crotchety, but she gave good money so the girls never complained).

The fourth envelope was from Crazy Uncle Stan, Ana's big brother. Inside was a very colorful and sparkly birthday card and four tickets to some sports match between two strange teams called The Chudley Cannons and the Holyhead Harpies. Mary just rolled her eyes and laughed; that was so typical of Uncle Stan. He was always sending the girls strange gifts like that—hence the reason they called him _Crazy_ Uncle Stan. But the girls loved him anyways; he was a really nice (if a bit—okay, _extremely_—odd) guy and he was always good for a laugh.

The fifth envelope was from Uncle Stan's adopted daughter Tina and it contained a purple and lime green birthday card, a jade pendent necklace, and a picture of a short, purple-haired Chinese girl standing between a tall, pale boy with shoulder-length black hair and an equally tall and pale girl with almost the exact same hair. In fact, the two looked eerily similar, the only differences that Mary could see—besides their gender, obviously—was their eye color (the boy had bright, emerald green eyes and the girl had large, stormy grey ones) and the fact that the girl was slightly taller than the boy (but only just a bit). The three teens were standing on a beautiful beach, the ocean and the setting sun in the background. Flipping the picture over, Mary read Tina's script: **_Shadow, Teeny, and Blackie in Jamaica. Happy big 11 Red!_**

Mary smiled brightly. "Teeny went to Jamaica this summer with her friends," she informed her family happily. "Looks like she had a pretty great time, too."

"That's wonderful, Lil' Red," said Alex. "Now, why don't you open up your last letter and see who it's from."

The final envelope was by far the strangest thing Mary had ever seen—_ever_. It was made of thick parchment, addressed in emerald green ink, and it read:

_Miss M. Potter_

_Second floor_

_Second bedroom on the right_

_118 Maple Tree Lane_

_Bellaire, Michigan_

_U.S.A._

Mary kept starring at the strange letter long after she had finished reading the envelope. Finally, Taylor and Jordan broke the silence. "Mary, what is it?" they asked together.

Startled, Mary looked up at the twins. "I- I'm not sure, but it has my legal name on it."

"Let me see it," demanded Alex, holding out his hand.

Mary willingly passed the strange letter to her uncle-father. He read the address then passed it to his wife. They glanced at each other then, with some unspoken agreement, Alex began. "Mary—" he said.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. "We'll get it!" Taylor and Jordan jumped up together and practically ran to the front door to get away from the uncomfortable scene that was beginning to unfold in the living room.

Alex was about to continue speaking when Jordan came running back into the living room. "Dad, there's a giant man outside—like, an _actual_ giant or something; the guy's frickin' _huge_! I _really _think you should talk to him." Alex got up and headed to the front door. Mary started to get up as well, but Ana motioned for her to stay where she was.

Taylor and Jordan came back first. Several minutes later, Alex followed, accompanied by the biggest man that Mary had ever seen. "Mary, there's someone I would like you to meet," said Alex, motioning to the giant man—as if _anyone_ could miss him, even if they tried their hardest.

All Mary could do was stare at the strange man. The giant man looked vaguely familiar, as if Mary had seen him before. _He almost looks like someone from my recurring nightmares,_ Mary thought to herself whilst continuing to stare at him. _Could those nightmares _actually_ be _real_? Could it all have actually _happened_? No… there's no bloody way… but still…he looks really, _really_ bloody familiar…God! This is frickin' killing me!_

"Mary—are you listening to me?" At the sound of her uncle-father's voice, Mary was once again pulled back into the nice little place that some call reality.

Shaking her head to clear it, Mary replied, "Ya, Uncle Alex. Sorry. What were you saying?"

"That's what I thought." Alex sighed in exasperation. "Mary, this is Rubeus Hagrid. He's here from England. He has something important that he wants to tell you—well, _needs_ to tell you, really."

"Oooookay..."

Ana, deciding that this was something that should be between just Mary and Hagrid, ushered the twins up the stairs to their room. Alex made his was to follow his wife, but paused at the bottom of the stairs. "Mary, sweetie," he said, "if you need anything…"

Mary smiled a small half-smile. "Thanks Uncle Alex," she said. She watched Alex go up the stairs and out of sight before turning to face Hagrid. "So…what is it that you want to tell me?" she asked, fixing her hazel gaze on the large man.

"Firs', like Alex said, me name's Rubeus Hagrid. Yeh can call me Hagrid, though; ev'ryone does."

"Okay, Hagrid then," said Mary, sizing the giant man currently sitting on the sofa up and down. "Well, I don't mean to be rude _Hagrid_, but it _is_ my birthday today, so could you—you know—maybe…get to the point? If you don't mind…Not to be rude or anything…"

"O' course," replied Hagrid happily. "Well, I've introduced meself. I'm Keeper o' Keys an' Grounds at Hogwarts—yeh have heard o' Hogwarts, righ'?"

"Hogwhatsits?"

"Hogwarts. Hogwarts School o' Witchcraft an' Wizardry." Mary shook her head. "No? Well, tha' complicates things a bit." Hagrid took a deep breath and a pause, as if he didn't know what to say next.

"Yes?" prompted Mary.

"Yer a witch, Mary."

"I'm a _what?!?!_"

"A witch."

"Yeah. I heard you the first time, Hagrid. I'm not deaf, ya know. I meant, what do you mean I'm a _witch_? 'Cause there is no _possible_ way on the face of the earth that I could _ever_ _possibly_ be a frickin' _witch_. I mean, _honestly_, magic's not even real or anything—right? The only 'witches' that exist are just weird-ass people—a.k.a. 'weirdoes'—who like to pretend that that's what they are, and that's _certainly_ not _me_."

Hagrid kind of glanced quickly and surreptitiously around the room, which was starting to shake lightly, before responding. "Magic _is _real, though. Mary, have yeh ever made anythin' happen? Somethin' yeh couldn' explain?"

Mary huffed. "Of course no…" she trailed off as certain memories came rushing back to her. The earthquake in Michigan in the middle of the winter that just _happened_ to be at the same time that she had gotten really mad at her sisters for taking and hiding all of her books; the time in fourth grade when the class bully had been picking on her and she wished that the girl would just disappear—and she did, right then and there and no one found her for three weeks; the thing with the jackass _Barbies _and their dresses at that store in the mall; and the thing with her now ex-boyfriend Steve in New York City last month… "Oh, I see…" finished Mary, weakly.

Hagrid chuckled—though it was more of a big booming laugh than an actual chuckle. Considering his size Mary wasn't sure that he was physically capable of doing _anything _on a small scale—chuckle, for one.

"Hey Hagrid, is that what this weird letter is all about?" asked Mary, picking up the letter with the emerald writing; it was still unopened.

"Yeh."

"Um, Hagrid?"

"Yeh?"

"How the bloody hell did whoever sent this letter know my last name?"

"Le' me see tha'." Hagrid took the letter from Mary and looked at the address on the envelope. "'Miss M. Potter.' Don' see nothin' wrong wi' tha'." He handed the letter back to her with a genuine smile.

"But there _must_ be," insisted Mary. "Look, right _here_." Mary pointed at the very first line of the address. "This says Miss M. _Potter_. I've been going by Mary _Evans_ since I was one. _Harry_ is a Potter, but not _me_. _So_ not me. Not anymore, at least."

"Have yer aunt an' uncle ne'er tol' yeh, then?"

"Told me _what_?"

Hagrid kept trying to avoid the point. "Well, I'm no' sure tha' I should be th' one ter tell yeh, Mary…It's really no' me place…"

"Tell me _what_!!??" Mary was fit to burst. The room was starting to shake quite violently. Hagrid actually began to look scared—not a comforting look from someone so big; he looked as if there wasn't much that could frighten him.

Just as Hagrid was about to speak, Alex came rushing down the stairs. "What in Heaven's name is going on down here?" Alex quickly looked from Mary to Hagrid, then back to Mary. Turning once again to Hagrid he said, "You made her mad, didn't you." Then he turned to Mary, "Mary, what did he say?"

Mary turned her angry glare at Alex. Her normally hazel eyes were now two pricks of flame that seemed to be alive and possess a mind of their own—quite a sight to see, honestly. "_What_ the bloody hell is it that you're not telling me, '_DAD_?'"

"Oh," said Alex softly. "_That's_ what you're mad about."

"Sorry 'bout tha', Alex. I didn' know tha' yeh hadn' tol' her yet—she was askin' why th' letter was addressed wi' Potter an' no' Evans."

"That's perfectly alright Hagrid," said Alex, clapping a comforting hand on the much large man's back. "We've been meaning to tell her about everything, we just haven't gotten around to it yet…it's rather a delicate subject, you know. And you can see what happens when, you know…"

_"Alexander Matthew Evans!!!!_"

Alex took Mary by the hand and sat her down on the couch. He then motioned for Hagrid to have a seat on the smaller couch as he sat down beside Mary. Alex then took a deep breath and began. "I've told you about Lily and James before, of course. But what I left out is the fact that they were a witch and wizard, respectively. At the age of eleven, Lily started at Hogwarts, where she met your father. After they graduated, both of your parents joined a group of, I suppose you could call them 'freedom fighters' of sorts. They were up against the darkest wizard of the day and were well aware of the danger they were in. Now, ten years ago, Ana and I were getting ready to move here, to the U.S. Taylor and Jordan were about three years old then. Well, the evening before we moved here, we had dinner with Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley; about a week or so before this, we had spent the evening with Lily, James, and their twins." Mary was about to say something, but Alexander shushed her. "Please let me finish, Lil' Red." Mary nodded, still fuming, but practicing restraint—_practicing_being the key word. Alex continued. "The morning after we had dinner with the Dursleys, I went out—as per usual—to get the milk. This particular morning I found something _quite_ different—not what _anyone_would typically find outside their house at all, really. On the front step were tw- was a baby girl wrapped up in a blanket." Alex paused for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on inside Mary's head—as if _that_ would _ever_happen. Right. (Like she even ever knows herself. Ha! Right.) After a moment, Alex finished, "That baby was you, Mary. Tucked inside your blanket was a note explaining that your parents had been killed and that you needed to be raised in the muggle world and that you needed to be separated from Harry in order to keep you both safe."

Mary was silent for a few minutes. Alex was about to ask her if she was okay when the bomb suddenly dropped—well, more like _exploded_ violently. "I can't believe you never frickin' told me this before!!" Mary yelled at her "father." "I mean, it's only like…the bloody _hugest_ secret _ever_ known to man! I mean, I know I'm not biologically your daughter, but this…what the bloody hell is with all the secrets?!?!?!" The whole house was shaking as if there was an earthquake (which there wasn't).

"Mary, calm down. Please," said Alex, trying to sooth the temperamental redhead.

"Calm down?!?! _Calm_ down?!?! _You_ expect _me_ to bloody well _calm down_?!?!"

"Mary, I know you're upset, but—"

"Upset?!?! _Upset_?!?! I'm _so_ _way_ _beyond_ frickin' _UPSET_, I don't know _what_ the word for how mad I am _is_!!!!!!"

Alex finally gave up. He started to pat Mary comfortingly on the leg, but thought better of it—especially after seeing that her eyes still hadn't quite returned to their normal hazel. Not to mention that the ruby on her necklace was flaming just as much as her eyes were. Alex got up and, looking at Hagrid sadly, said, "I'll let you take this from here, Hagrid." With that he headed back up the stairs to his wife and daughters.

Mary was still fuming even after Alex went upstairs, but she was beginning to calm down bit—just a bit, though. After a few minutes, she had finally calmed down enough to ask Hagrid a question. "Hagrid, why was I left with Uncle Alex and Aunt Ana? Why was my name changed in the first place? Why wasn't I raised in a magic family? Why were Harry and I separated? I need some frickin' answers! NOW!!"

"One question at a time please!" said Hagrid, holding out his hands for her to slow down. "Fer one, yeh were lef' wi' yer Uncle Alex 'cause he's yer mum's brother an' he was th' mos' fit ter care fer yeh. An' he had yer surname changed ter keep yeh safe."

"Safe from _what_?" Mary's eyes were beginning to flame again.

Hagrid glanced at his watch. "Mary, do yeh mind if I answer th' res' o' yer questions later? I promise I _will_answer them, bu' we need ter be somewhere early-like tomorrow an' since we have ter travel th' slow way, I'd like ter leave as soon as possible."

Mary, anxious to get out of the house, was only too eager to oblige. She went upstairs, packed a few things, and yelled a quick goodbye to Alex, Ana, and the twins. She also yelled to them that she would tell them where to ship the rest of her stuff when she and Hagrid got there—wherever _there_was. With that, Mary ran down the stairs and she and Hagrid left, Mary satisfyingly slamming the door behind her as she followed the giant man out of the front door of the Evans' house.

XXXXXXX

Mary and Hagrid first took a bus to the Detroit airport. Both on the bus _and_at the airport, Mary had to deal with the money handling; Hagrid claimed that it was because he didn't understand _American_ money at all, but Mary had a feeling there was more to it than just _that_.

On the plane ride to London Hagrid slept, which gave Mary the chance to contemplate everything that had happened to her in the very short span of the evening of her eleventh birthday.

Once in London, Mary and Hagrid took a bus to a remote spot where they then rented a boat. By this time it was almost midnight. "Hagrid, why are we on a bloody boat in the middle of _nowhere_? And did I happen to mention that I absolutely _HATE_ BOATS!?!" Mary fumed.

"Yeh didn' mention it, sorry Mary. This is th' only way there is, an' there's one more stop we need ter make 'fore we continue. Oh, by the way, yer real birthday don' start 'til after midnight."

"Oh joy. More lies my oh-so-wonderful guardians told me," Mary muttered under her breath.

"Don' be so hard on them," cajoled Hagrid. "They only wanted yeh ter have as much o' a normal childhood as they could possibly give yeh. 'Sides, things kinda get all strange, what with the time differences an' all, so technically its yesterday here."

"I suppose," grumbled Mary.

"Jus' think o' it this way, Mary: yeh get two birthdays fer the price o' one this year, what with the time zones and all."

This seemed to perk Mary up a bit…until she remembered that they were still in the God-forsaken boats. She groaned. "Hagrid, how much—"

"Ah, here we are." Hagrid interrupted her question as he finally stopped the boat on a tiny little island.

"Well, that answers my question," muttered Mary.

As soon as Hagrid had the boat properly secured, Mary couldn't get out fast enough ("LAND!! SWEET, BEAUTIFUL LAND!!!!"). It was now 11:58.

By the time it was midnight, they had reached the door of a little, run-down cabin—actually, it was really more of a shack than anything else. At the first stroke of midnight, Hagrid knocked on the door. BOOM!

* * *

**A/N:**I had some pretty cool fonts in this (McG, Hogwarts' addressing system, and Tina), but unfortunately they don't show up here. :(

**SN1:**Sorry for all the random Spanish in the authors' notes I took Spanish this term & now I often find myself thinking in Spanish and/or translating things to & from Spanish randomly. Lo siento much. -heiressofanor

**~R&R por favor!!--No flames por favor tambien~**


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